LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




BEAUTIES OF MOSS AND LICHENS. 



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THE TWO STUDENTS. 



BY 

Rev. SIDNEY DYER, Ph.D. 

AVTHOtt OF "BLACK DIAMONDS," "liOTS AND BIBDS, V u .bCEANH3ARDEXS 

"elmdaxe ltcettm," etc. 




PHILADELPHIA ; 

American Baptist publication f>ocictij, 

14-20 Chestnut Street. 






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THE 



BEAUTIFUL LADDER; 



OR, 



THE TWO STUDENTS. 



BY 

Rev. Sidney' dyer, Ph.D., 

AUTHOR OP " BLACK DIAMONDS," " BOYS AND BIRDS," " OCEAN- 
GARDENS," "BLMDALE LYCEUM," ETC. 



- :.o?>v 



PHILADELPHIA : 

AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 

1420 CHESTNUT STREET. 



lis 



3}9 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by the 

AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



/2-V92J 



Westcott & Thomson, 
Stereotypers and Electrotypers, Philada. 






} 

AS BUT A FITTING RECOGNITION OF THE LARGE IN- 
DEBTEDNESS, BOTH OF THE AUTHOR AND HIS 
READERS, FOR HIS CAREFUL EDITORIAL 
SUPERVISION OF THE SERIES OF 
y BOOKS OF WHICH THIS 

IS THE EIGHTH, 

THIS VOLUME 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO 

GEO. W. ANDERSON, D.D., 

BY HIS MUCH-OBLIGED FRIEND, 

S. DYER. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

The Two Students 7 

CHAPTER II. 
A Serious Discussion 21 

CHAPTER III. 
A Family Council 32 

CHAPTER IV. 
An Old Scene, but New Eyes 40 

CHAPTER V. 
The Foot on the Lowest Round 52 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Second Step ; or, A Casket of Pond-jewelry . 64 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Beauties of the " First-born of Life " . . . 78 

CHAPTER VIII. 

A Drop of Water marvellously Illuminated . . 95 

1* 5 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

PAGE 

A Visit to the Widow and the Fatherless ... no 

CHAPTER X. 
The Marvellous Illumination continued .... 127 

CHAPTER XI. 
An Ocean Round of the Beautiful Ladder ... 139 

CHAPTER XII. 
Intimations of Eden 164 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Great Moral Lessons from Insects 184 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Blossoms of the Air 211 

CHAPTER XV. 
Beauties and Marvels of Bird Life 239 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Higher and Brighter; or, First Aerial Round . 267 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Glimpses from the Topmost Terrestial Round . . 296 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Altar and the Sacrifice . . . • • 321 

CHAPTER XIX. 
The Happy Outcome 334 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 



CHAPTER I. 
THE TWO STUDENTS. 

"TT7ELL, Charley, one more year in the 
* * unraveling of metaphysical webs and 
the chopping of logic, and then you will pocket 
your roll of sheepskin and start out on the 
grand career of life. I congratulate you on 
your success in reaching the head of your 
class. It is a great honor to stand at the front 
of such a lot of bright fellows as you have had 
to compete with." 

This was the cordial salutation of Lewis Ru- 
dolph as he first met his intimate friend, Charles 
Davidson, after the year's examination at college 
had successfully closed. 

" Thank you, Lew," was the ready response. 
" I've come out better than I expected — better 
than I deserved, I fear." 

7 



8 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

" No, no, Charley, that can't be/' was the an- 
swer; "with such a mind and such perseve- 
rance as yours, you deserve all you have gained. 
Keep on, old fellow, as you have begun, and you 
will occupy no middle ground, whatever course 
you may pursue. You have a grand future be- 
fore you. By the by, have you mapped out a 
course of life for yourself, as you said you 
should before your Junior year closed ? What 
is it to be — law, politics, money, or playing gen- 
tleman ?" 

This question seemed to cause a deep shadow 
to cloud the brow of young Davidson, and it 
was some moments before he responded ; when 
he did, it was in tones that indicated the serious- 
ness of his statements : 

" Perhaps I should say that I have, Lew, for I 
have come to the settled conviction that there is 
not enough depending on my poor existence to 
make it worthy of much serious reflection. " 

" Why, Charley Davidson," said his friend, 
" you astonish me ! You are the last man of 
my acquaintance whom I should have expected 
to find in a fit of the doleful dumps. Few young 
fellows have such a chance to make their way 
in the world. You have wealth enough to re- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 9 

move all necessity to toil or danger of want, 
and also to enable you to gratify your tastes for 
travel or society. What has come over you, 
old fellow, to make you look so gloomy with 
such bright prospects before you ? I thought it 
was your intention, as soon as you graduated, to 
travel for a few years for further study and ob- 
servation of the world, and then settle down to 
a profession ?" 

" Yes," was the reply, " that was my half- 
formed purpose when I entered upon the last 
year's study, and I have not entirely given up 
the idea, though I have recently thought of 
making quite a change in my route." 

" Ah, and which way now ?" was the inquiry 
of young Rudolph. " Are you going to outdo 
Captain Kane by getting astride of the North 
Pole, or put Stanley into the shade by laying 
out Central Africa into townships?" 

11 No, Lew," was the sober answer, " I do 
not mean to aim at notoriety, as I have rather 
in mind to seek some nook or corner of the 
Rocky Mountains, where I can get as far from 
men and the active world as possible, and 
cultivate the fellowship of grizzly bears and 
buffaloes. That seems to promise more of 



IO THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

happiness than any other course that is open 
to me just now." 

"Well, well, Charley! you have got it bad," 
said Rudolph. "On what did they feed you 
last term ? Indigo and salt pork ? Why, man, 
you have the bluest fit of dyspeptic hypo- 
chrondria that I have seen in many a long 
day. Rouse up and shake off the spectre, or 
blue mass won't save you." 

"I may be dyspeptic, Lew," was the reply, 
" a little crazy, or something worse, but that I 
am downright serious is most certain. I would 
not give a dry fig for life; it has nothing to 
promise worthy of the pain and fret of attain- 
ment : 

' It is to live and wish that I were not, 
To feel the ills of life, and then to lie 
In drear oblivion in the grave, and rot.' 

To live just to amass wealth is a contempt- 
ible existence; the more so, as all your faults 
and weaknesses are sure to be dragged forth to 
public scorn by the quarrels of your heirs. You 
know that several cases of late have occurred in 
which millionaires and railroad kings have had 
their memories blackened in that way when 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. II 

they were hardly cold in their graves. Better 
to have died unknown and poor than to have 
toiled and hoarded through a long life only to 
be finally embalmed in scandal. I should be 
afraid to die worth more than enough to bury 
me, lest it should be the occasion of soiling my 
name when I am dead." 

"Well, Charley," was the reply, "the in- 
stances you mention are too frequent; but 
that might have been the fault of the heirs. 
It should be remembered that those who ac- 
cumulated the wealth did some noble things, 
which should entitle them to a more respectful 
remembrance." 

" With a few rare exceptions I cannot see it 
in that light," said Davidson. " True, they gave 
away some large sums. But the measures used 
in accumulating ; the ' corners ' made in stocks, 
railroad-shares, and wheat, — showed the true 
bent and purpose of their lives. A few ostenta- 
tious charities could not hide all this from the 
eyes of the world, even though their greedy heirs 
had not torn away the thin veil which had been 
used for concealment. I would rather be a 
Robinson Crusoe and share my hut and scanty 
morsel with my man Friday than be the owner 



12 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

of all the ships and railroads ever built, if their 
possession would expose my memory to be 
dragged forth to such public contempt." 

" Well, Charley," said Lewis, " it must be 
confessed that a life such as you have described 
must appear loathsome to a noble mind, but that 
is the abuse of wealth. You must remember 
that there are not a few bright exceptions to 
offset the many instances of fraud and selfish- 
ness. Consider the many noble monuments of 
consecrated wealth in the shape of colleges, hos- 
pitals, and other institutions of public charity !" 

" No, Lew, I have not forgotten that there are 
a few men whose names the world will not will- 
ingly let die, but the precious catalogue is a 
very brief one indeed when motives and actions 
are closely scanned. Not every one, however, 
who has built a college or an institution of char- 
ity by will deserves to be placed in the rank of 
the world's benefactors. When passing some of 
these monuments of so-called generosity, I have 
been led to scan carefully the active lives of the 
legators. It seems to me that the last act of 
their lives is the most sordid and contemptible. 
So long as they were able they clutched and 
hoarded, made ' corners/ and took advantage of 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 3 

the pressing needs of others in order to secure 
unlawful gains. Their manner of accumulation 
having been such that a true sense of honor had 
been outraged, and their personal generosity too 
scanty to awaken any lasting gratitude, they 
could only hope to linger a while in public 
thought by some plan that would carry the de- 
ception beyond the period of their own sordid 
lives. So, when they could clutch their gold no 
longer, they beguiled posterity into an unde- 
served remembrance by erecting some monu- 
ment of stone, thereby keeping alive a name 
that would otherwise have gone into just obliv- 
ion. These instances are so numerous that I 
am afraid to make trial of my poor weak nature, 
lest I should add another to the ignoble cata- 
logue. No, no, Lew ; that question is fully set- 
tled : I would rather be a poor hod-carrier or 
a wandering trapper of the Plains than give 
my life to mere money-making. Getting wealth 
seems to be a passion that feeds on its own 
success — more requires more. Having already 
enough for all real wants, and a little to spare, I 
shall be no seeker after filthy lucre ; so we may 
drop that subject." 

11 All right, Charley/' answered his friend. " I 



14 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

will not try to unsettle your determination, for 
I have rather suspected that you would not take 
kindly to the plod-and-traffic line. But you 
must remember that there are other things to 
be gained besides money. The good Book says 
that the merchandise of wisdom is better than 
silver or gold, and more precious than rubies. 
Turn philosopher, man, and make a name for 
yourself. You have already made such a grand 
start that success is almost certain. Come, now, 
here is a line worthy of your ambition, in which 
your morbid philosophy will not serve as an 
excuse." 

" Oh yes," was the reply, " there was a time 
when the best minds were consecrated to noble 
thoughts and ends ; but, dear me ! I fear that 
golden day is past. The purposes of some 
of the scientists seem to be more detestable 
than those of the devotees of Mammon. The 
Mammonites only would cheat you of your 
cash ; but these scientists are striving with all 
their might to rob the universe of a God, and 
man of his soul and his immortality. I am no 
practical believer in systems of theology, nor 
have I fully accepted the Bible as an inspired 
book, but paganism never concocted so vile a 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 5 

system, nor burdened the heart of man with so 
dark a despair, as will result if the ends of some 
of the most distinguished scientists are attained. 
Putting aside the more outspoken and daring 
French and German materialists, for what con- 
clusion do some of the English scientists rea- 
son ? Nor do their weak echoes on this side of 
the water invite to a more promising consum- 
mation. Their success will break up all the 
foundations of human faith and hope. Life will 
be but a horrid dream, and death an eternal 
sleep. Alas ! for man's destiny if these are 
the verities which Science is commissioned to 
establish. Brightly as her robes shine, she must 
excuse me if I refuse to follow if such be her 
leading. 

" If I had the gifts which would warrant an 
effort in the more general fields of literature, I 
am too great a coward to endure the rasping 
criticism through which I must pass before I 
could hope to reach any prominence or useful- 
ness as an author. 

" So, you see, my sage adviser, that I am cut 
off from all hope and ambition in these direc- 
tions, and, I might add, in all others, as matters 
now stand. Indeed, I have about concluded 



1 6 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

that it will be a useless waste of time to spend 
another year at college, and I am seriously de- 
bating the propriety of completing my course. 
As I now view matters, it seems that in my 
case the old proverb would have a new illus- 
tration : ' He that increaseth knowledge in- 
creaseth sorrow.' I already know too much to 
share the contentment of the clown, and there 
is too thick a mist enveloping the future to 
excite further prying into its mysteries, unless 
I can find a better guidance than I have yet 
followed." 

" Well, I declare, Charley," was the response, 
"you have got the 'dolefuls' bad! I see there 
is no use in trying to argue you into sanity. 
But, my boy, there is one chance left for you 
yet, and that you cannot gainsay." 

" I am glad to hear it," was Davidson's an- 
swer. iC In which direction does this land of 
promise lie ? I will at once take staff in hand 
and seek rest for my wearied soul, even though 
the sea and the desert must be passed through 
to find it." 

" Everybody, Charley," said his friend, " gives 
you credit for a warm, generous, social nature, 
and you know that you are the special pet of 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 7 

the ladies. Make one of them supremely hap- 
py ; get married, and make a man of yourself 
by showing that you are essential to the well- 
being of others." 

" Oh dear ! oh dear !" was the response, with 
a long-drawn emphasis. "If that is my only 
remaining chance for happiness, the sooner I 
take to a hermits cave in the mountains the 
better. Thank you; I would 

'Rather bear those ills I have, 
Than fly to others that I know not of.' 

There are, no doubt, many happy homes, but 
I must seriously question whether I am gifted 
with the qualities necessary to add another to 
the blessed few. Doubting whether I can make 
a woman happy as a wife, I would rather re- 
main single than take the venture." 

"Well, Charley, I've exhausted my logic," 
was Rudolph's rejoinder. "So I give it up. 
If you will go to the Rocky Mountains or to 
the dogs, why, you'll just have to go ahead, for 
aught I can do or say. But, see here, old fel- 
low: before you hide yourself in some waste 
howling wilderness and turn savage, come with 

me and have one more taste of the delights of 
2* B 



1 8 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

civilization. I am going to call on my class- 
mate, Milton Dean, at Willow Brook; and if 
there is on earth a family whose beautiful so- 
cial life- will bring back suggestions of the un- 
blighted Eden, that bright spot is the home 
of Doctor Dean." 

" Ah yes, Lew," replied Davidson. " I've 
heard that there is some attraction in that direc- 
tion for you. But beware ; remember that it was 
in Eden where Mother Eve led man into his 
first trouble, and it is not to be supposed that 
one of her daughters, a little on the outside of 
the sacred enclosure, will be wiser or stronger 
than she was within." 

"A truce to your banter, Charley," was the 
reply. " Come with me, and you will find not 
only a true woman in Ella Dean, but a charm 
surrounding the whole family, that may draw 
you in that direction more than once, especially 
as there is another ( wingless angel ' there who 
is bright enough to ensnare almost any poor 
mortal. But seriously, Charley, an evening 
with the Deans is most delightful. It is a 
scene of refinement and content, where conver- 
sation does not degenerate into insipidity or 
scandal, or tediousness compel a resort to friv- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 9 

olous amusements to pass away the time. Doc- 
tor Dean has been a diligent student, and from 
his rich stores of observation presents charm- 
ing pictures of nature and society. Come and 
put yourself once within the influence of that 
delightful circle, and if you do not wish to re- 
peat the experience, I will not urge you to 
another trial. ,, 

" I could venture to make the call, ,, said Da- 
vidson, " if it could be only a social visit ; but I 
hear that the Deans are awfully pious, and you 
know that I hate cant. If Doctor Dean should 
begin to bore me with his preaching, I might do 
something unmannerly, and that I should regret 
for your sake. It would be better for me not to 
go ; it will be safer." 

"Nonsense, Charley !" said Lewis; "I will 
take all the blame for what may happen. Doc- 
tor Dean has too much sense to offend his visi- 
tors by intruding improper or untimely subjects. 
Besides, he clothes every topic with such at- 
tractiveness that one is charmed before he has 
time to shape arguments against his conclu- 
sions." 

" Go ahead, then," was the answer, " make the 
appointment ; and if they will not regard me as 



20 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

an intruder, I will venture to look into your 
'Paradise Regained/ " 

" All right !" was the reply, " and if you do not 
bless me for introducing such a world-sick wan- 
derer into that blissful retreat, you will be a 
marked specimen of total depravity; and so 
good-bye." 



CHAPTER II. 

A SERIOUS DISCUSSION. 

A N introduction to the Deans will not be 
■**- necessary to those readers who have fol- 
lowed them in their rambles around Willow 
Brook, searching out the "Wonders of Familiar 
Objects ;" shared in their delving for the treas- 
ures hidden in the mines of " Black Diamonds," 
and more marvellous investigations among the 
" Ocean Gardens and Palaces." To those who 
have not thus enjoyed their acquaintance and 
fellowship a few words may be necessary in 
order to a proper apprehension of the inter- 
views which may be had in future pages. 

The home of the Deans was comparatively 
humble, being a small, neatly-kept cottage em- 
bowered by trees, shrubbery, and vines. 

The large number of well-arranged bird-cages 

distributed through the grounds, and the rustic 

seats placed in their immediate vicinity, showed 

21 



22 TBE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

the good terms maintained with the numerous 
feathered songsters, whose " wood-notes wild " 
seemed to be their spontaneous songs of grat- 
itude for the kindly care bestowed upon them. 
The whole aspect of the place was such as to 
show that it was under the care of those who 
delighted in the beautiful, and that it was not 
an attempt to make nature a vehicle for a dis- 
play of their own vanity. It was a place for 
study as well as for gratification, a retreat for 
meditation as well as for indulgence. 

Within, the cottage exhibited a fitting coun- 
terpart to the exterior surroundings. Nothing 
was rich or costly, but the genius of neatness 
and attraction seemed to preside there with 
an undisturbed sway. The home was indeed 
" swept and garnished," yet there were no un- 
sightly reminiscences, indicating that "unclean 
spirits " had ever gone thence " seeking rest;" 
but there was something pervading the very at- 
mosphere which suggested that any attempt to 
introduce any such disreputable visitors would 
be an unsafe undertaking. Truly it might be 
said of Willow Brook Cottage, that 

" If there's peace to be found in the world, 
The heart that is humble might look for it here." 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 23 

Whatever, however, might have been the 
pleasing impressions made by the externals of 
this rustic dwelling-place, no one could remain 
long in free intercourse with its inmates with- 
out losing sight of these attractions in the su- 
perior charms of the social and intellectual life 
enjoyed. In the contentment realized by a 
moderate supply for real wants, the absence of 
luxuries was not felt or noticed ; and if afflic- 
tions and pressing cares ever intruded into that 
cheerful circle, they were borne with a fortitude 
and resignation which prevented them from be- 
coming obtrusive and exciting a painful sympa- 
thy. There was no need to invent means for 
killing time, as every moment brought some 
useful and instructive employment. A well- 
ordered Christian family, they were in the true 
enjoyment of the life that now is, with the full 
expectation of the brighter realities of that 
which is to come ; and were using the oppor- 
tunities of the present so that they might go to 
their treasures, and not from them, when the 
great change should come. 

Their religion, with the dwellers in Willow 
Brook Cottage, was not a sombre, joy-crushing 
system, but a vital force, which gave zest and 



24 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

illumination to every phase of life and outgo- 
ing of mind and heart. It was the celestial 
ladder, with foot resting on the earth, and rising 
upward, with an ever-growing brightness, until 
its leaning top touched the throne of infinite 
glory and goodness. 

Doctor Dean possessed the usual amount of 
professional scholarship, which is, from the 
nature of the case, more or less technical — a 
" valley of dry bones " if the possessor does 
not give life and clothing to his acquirements 
by fresh and original studies. By a judicious 
selection of topics and a careful use of time, 
Doctor Dean had become unusually enriched 
in the most important departments of natural 
history and science, and had so trained his chil- 
dren that they largely shared in his enthusiasm 
and acquisitions. Their study in these depart- 
ments had ceased to be a task, and had become a 
recreation ; and, without being pedantic or offen- 
sive, they possessed, in a wonderful degree, the 
faculty of infusing something of their enthusi- 
asm into such of their visitors as were capable 
of entering into their studies and pursuits. 

Milton, the son, had grown in body and mind 
since he was found gathering wisdom on the sea- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2$ 

shore under the apt instructions of Old Ben the 
diver. He was, indeed, nearly out of his teens, 
and in his Senior year in college. In his course 
of study he had shown the happy results of his 
careful home-training, by keeping well in ad- 
vance of his class in all departments of philos- 
ophy and natural history, and had received the 
flattering offer of a position as tutor in these 
departments of study after his graduation. 

The sedate Ella was, if possible, more enthu- 
siastic in her love of the true and the beautiful, 
spending much of her time in roaming the fields 
and woods, culling wild flowers and drinking in 
the bird melodies that filled them with a gush 
of song. With great ardor she had entered into 
her father's studies, and, while evincing nothing 
of the blue-stocking, could converse with great 
interest on most subjects of natural history. 

Minnie, the younger daughter, while still 
somewhat whimsical, had gained more solidity 
of character, though the keenness of her wit had 
not been blunted nor her love of the grotesque 
subdued. She was still as apt to see strongly 
the ridiculous aspects of life, and as free to com- 
ment upon them, and, as formerly, the first to 

regret and weep over any indiscretions. 
3 



26 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

As for Mrs. Dean, she was the fitting centre 
of the affections, order, and attractiveness of 
such a delightful Christian home, receiving the 
blessings of her children, the praises of her hus- 
band, and the ardent gratitude of her neighbors 
for her many deeds of kindness and charity. 

With this introduction the reader will be 
somewhat prepared to understand the assurance 
given by young Davidson, that his friends would 
thank him for introducing him to the enjoy- 
ments of such a happy circle ; and, it is hoped, 
will cherish a stronger desire for further inter- 
course. 

It has been beautifully said, that " Heaven lies 
about us in our infancy ;" but, alas ! how few are 
so enlightened as to catch even partial glimpses 
of the celestial radiance ! nay, how many are 
wholly unconscious of the divine illumination ! 
They can never get the dust of the earth suffi- 
ciently out of their eyes to see anything higher 
or more noble ; they grovel right on, when they 
might mount up; they keep the head on the 
stone, when the ardent feet might be on the 
heaven-reaching ladder, the former almost as 
insensible as the unyielding pillow on which it 
rests. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2*J 

It is the aim of this volume to inspire its 
readers with a desire to follow the angelic gui- 
dance which ever waits to convey the devout 
climber to the glory of the opening heavens 
and the perfections of infinite bliss. 

After one or two brief interviews which the 
two young friends had enjoyed at Willow Brook, 
Doctor Dean gained some insight into their 
characters and peculiar modes of thought. He 
saw that they had abilities, and were likely to 
become men of more than ordinary influence, and 
felt an unusual sense of obligation to try and 
lead them into the right ways of knowledge and 
action ; hence he cordially invited them to make 
frequent calls at the parsonage during their va- 
cation, especially soliciting their participation in 
certain evenings given to social discussions of 
natural science and other kindred topics. 

After receiving this invitation the young men 
returned to their own room, and young Rudolph 
opened the conversation by saying — 

" Well, Charley, you seemed to enjoy your- 
self hugely this evening, notwithstanding the 
day opened with a rather blue morning. It was 
evident that you were interested in Miss Minnie 
to-night, judging from the way you chattered over 



28 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

there in the corner, leaving me to play the dig- 
nified with the old folks. Perhaps, if you do 
not use some expedition in seeking the com- 
panionship of bears and buffaloes, you may find 
yourself tethered, and your wanderings restricted 
to the regions about Willow Brook." 

"Don't let yourself be alarmed," was the re- 
ply, " though, to tell the truth, I did spend a 
delightful evening, and found Miss Minnie Dean 
charming company. I was fearful that I should 
find the Misses Dean regular blue-stockings of 
the straightest order, prim with propriety, and 
tagging on a moral to every sentence ; but they 
are quite the reverse, and I could almost think 
that the world has something worth living for 
could I be persuaded that there are many such 
green spots in life's wastes. Truly, Lew, I do 
most heartily thank you for introducing me to 
such a family." 

"I am delighted," was Rudolph's rejoinder, 
"to hear of your enjoyment, and hope that a 
few repetitions of such pleasant hours may cure 
your despondency and give you more cheering 
views of life." 

" Yes, yes, thank you," said Davidson, " but 
the beginning is too bright to last, I fear. I am 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 29 

interested for the moment by such agreeable 
intercourse, so unusual in my experience, but 
when the end comes the recoil will be likely to 
push me back into the old convictions of the 
utter emptiness of life." 

" Oh, Charley boy," replied his friend, " that 
ground has all been gone over, and I thought 
that you had made better use of your classics 
than to play the modern Diogenes." 

" I know my classics," was the answer, " but 
they don't help me in determining the practical 
question, whether it is the part of wisdom to play 
Stoic or Cynic. At present I am rather dis- 
posed to emulate the philosopher in the tub, 
and show my superior wisdom by getting away 
from the pale of so-called civilized society." 

While young Davidson was thus stating the 
workings of his mind, his friend's countenance 
assumed a sober aspect, and in corresponding 
tones he replied : 

" Well, I may as well confess that my expe- 
rience has been much like yours whenever I 
have given myself up to sober thinking, but I 
have generally shaken off the depressing tend- 
ency by cherishing the hope that there is some- 
thing, after all, worth living for, and that by 
3* 



30 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

patient searching I should yet find out the happy- 
secret. There must be some course in life that 
will make it a blessing and be the promise of 
something better hereafter ; and will it not be the 
part of wisdom for us both to make an honest 
effort to find it out before giving up to despair ? 
It seems to me that the Deans have found the 
true pathway of life, and are in the enjoyment 
of its happiness. Perhaps before our vacation 
is over they may render us essential aid in our 
search for the right way to happiness." 

"To all of which," said Davidson, "I will 
interpose no objection, provided it comes with- 
out prompting or cant. In the line of science, 
I do not see how the happiness you speak of 
is attainable ; and as to religion, the multitudes 
of superstitions which have distracted and op- 
pressed the world preclude all hope of finding 
it there." 

" I am not so certain of that," was Rudolph's 
answer. " The fact that all nations have a re- 
ligion leads us to infer that it is essential to 
man's nature. It seems to me to be the first 
rational duty of every one to find out which is 
the true one, and then most heartily to accept 
its doctrines and practise its duties. For my- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 3 1 

self, I fear I have been more diligent in study- 
ing out the defects of the false than in finding 
out the principles of the true, and in noting the 
failures of others rather than in aiming to keep 
in the right path myself." 

" Well, Lew," was the reply, " I see that you 
were cut out for a black coat and a white neck- 
tie, but I fear you have chosen a hard subject 
for your trial sermon." 

" Pardon me, Charley," said Rudolph ; " I did 
not mean to play the preacher. I was only ex- 
pressing my thoughts, with the hope of saying 
something that would mitigate your despond- 
ency, leaving a cure for other times and abler 
teachers." 

"Ah, thank you kindly," replied his friend, 
" but I fear the disease is too deeply seated for 
hopeful medication; and so good-night." 

" Good-night," was the rejoinder, " and happy 
be thy dreams, with brighter skies in the morn- 
ing!" 



CHAPTER III. 

A FAMILY COUNCIL. 

\ T 7 HEN the two young friends had taken 
* * their leave after an evening spent at the 
Deans*, Milton, addressing his younger sister, 
said, 

" Well, Min, you and Mr. Davidson seemed 
to have a mutual good time over there in the 
corner. Pray, will it be divulging any precious 
secrets if you inform us what subject so inter- 
ested you. Was it good looks, wit, or wisdom ? 
But why should I ask, for it was the former of 
course, for that is what you girls are always 
looking after." 

" Thank you, brother," was the reply, " for the 
very high estimate in which you hold the wit 
of your sister ; but if you are always as wide of 
the mark as you are now in your guessing, you 
ought to confine yourself to plain facts. I paid 
but little attention to the personal appearance of 
either of your friends, and formed no very high 

32 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 33 

opinion of the wit or wisdom of one of them. 
If going to college does not enable young men 
to talk with more sense and form better concep- 
tions of the purposes of life than Mr. Davidson 
exhibited to-night, I think the expense of main- 
taining such institutions quite a useless waste of 
time and money." 

" Then, sister mine, you must have been guilty 
of a little coquetry, for you seemed much to en- 
joy your tete-a-tete" 

" Oh yes," was the answer ; " in the way of 
small talk Mr. Davidson was entertaining 
enough; but when anything serious or sen- 
sible was brought forward, he was excruciat- 
ingly dull or quite offensively wanting in rever- 
ence. He did not know what he was made for, 
nor what he was going to do. On the whole, 
he thought the world a huge mistake, and man 
as the climax of the failure. As sister Ella is 
so anxious to engage in missionary work, I 
think, instead of going to enlighten the heathen 
on the other side of the globe, it would be bet- 
ter to begin with those much nearer home ; and, 
as a point of beginning, I recommend a certain 
Senior class in a neighboring college." 

"Ah, Min," said the brother, "Charley was 
c 



34 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

only trying to tease you, for he has one of the 
best minds in his class, and is of unimpeachable 
habits." 

" I most sincerely pity the rest then, brother," 
was the answer, " for their stock of knowledge 
would be a meagre outfit for a ' cheap John/ 
If he was trying to tease me, he was none the 
less rude to talk so lightly of sacred things ; 
and if serious, as I am persuaded he was, he 
was very stupid or wickedly blind. — Why, 
father, he said he was not sure whether he 
had any soul or not, or that there is a God 
or a hereafter. Is not that perfectly awful ?" 

" It is certainly," replied Mr. Dean, " no very 
commendable state of mind to be in ; but let 
us hope that Mr. Davidson is not quite so be- 
clouded as you have inferred. It is not uncom- 
mon for young and active minds while in a state 
of formation to pass through such experiences 
as are now perplexing this young man ; and let 
me say that it is a work worthy of our best ef- 
forts to try to remove such baleful notions from 
a beclouded mind. Perhaps in this good work 
not only your sister, but all of us, may take an 
important share. For one, I feel so great an in- 
terest, that I shall take special pains to so shape 



. THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 35 

our conversations when he is present, as to lead 
him to cherish better views of truth and the great 
purposes of life. In this worthy effort I shall 
want all the aid which you can render. Let us 
convince these young men that the Christian re- 
ligion does not make long faces and gloomy 
homes, but the very reverse ; and that it can 
give to conversation and social life a zest and 
relish surpassing the trivial commonplaces of 
fashionable society. ,, 

" I can bear testimony," said Milton, " that 
young Davidson is a noble, generous fellow ; 
and I am persuaded, father, that you are correct 
in your conception of his trouble. He is in a 
state of mental and moral transition ; and if he 
has the right guidance just now, I hope he will 
come out all right, and be a man of great influ- 
ence for good in the world. It will be a great 
pleasure to me to aid in securing such a happy 
consummation. " 

" Well, I'm sure I hope you may be success- 
ful, father," added Minnie, "for he certainly 
needs some one to guide him, else there will 
be a life squandered, if he does not perpetrate 
something worse. Why, he said he was about 
ready to seek fellowship with wild beasts, as 



36 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

more desirable than any human society he had 
met with yet." 

" Which atrocious remark," replied the broth- 
er, " was not very complimentary to you, sister 
mine, and that perhaps may account for the 
questionable complexion which you have given 
to his character." 

" It was no great mark of his good-breeding," 
interposed Ella, " when talking to a lady to 
make such an invidious remark ; but we should 
have little to do in this world if we should pass 
by every one lacking in good sense ; and so I 
suppose that Mr. Davidson is entitled to his 
share of our benevolent sympathies. — But, fath- 
er, I do not see in what way we can essentially 
aid in securing the desirable result. It would 
be indelicate for me and sister to put ourselves 
forward or assume to be instructors to those 
who are our superiors in knowledge, even when 
they are of our own sex, but when the subjects 
are intelligent young men the impropriety is 
beyond question." 

" True, my daughter," was the reply, " and be 
assured that I shall ask you to do no equivo- 
cal service. 

" There are two ways in which character is 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 37 

moulded, the direct and the unconscious. I 
will take as my share in our contemplated work 
the former method, and so shape our conversa- 
tions and studies, as to lead the minds of our 
young visitors to clearer and brighter concep- 
tions of the Creator's works and ways. As to 
the second method, the unconscious influence, 
let us strive so to entertain them as to make 
them feel the charms of a social life that is 
stimulated and controlled by a cheerful, joy- 
giving Christianity. They need to learn that 
there is something better and nobler than seek- 
ing after mere earthly good, and that the soul 
is worth more than the body. Let us try to 
teach them that the subordination of the lower 
to the higher does not bring gloom and discom- 
fort, but gives the truest and most satisfactory 
enjoyments. 

" To tread in the way of true happiness is a 
surer guidance than to point it out with the 
clearest definitions. To manifest in our lives 
the joys of salvation will better instruct trans- 
gressors in the right way than the most lucid 
exposition of truth. Too often, through a mis- 
taken conception of what constitutes vital god- 
liness, there is an effort to put on a spiritual 



38 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

straight-jacket, instead of taking off the heavy- 
burdens ; to make long faces, instead of joyful 
countenances ; and to key the voice to a per- 
petual minor, rather than tune it to anthems 
of holy delight. It has been truly sung that 

* Religion never was designed 
To make our pleasures less.' 

The Christian ought always so to live as to 
give emphatic attestation to this truthful sen- 
timent. We can see in the case of these young 
men a strong inducement to try and clothe the 
principles and duties of Religion so as to prove 
that all ' her ways are ways of pleasantness, and 
all her paths are peace.' 

" Our own family circle will furnish no inapt 
instance of the power of proper instruction and 
the exhibition of a cheerful piety. Instructed 
by the word of God, we have endeavored to 
teach that religion is designed and adapted to 
make its subjects more cheerful and happy, and 
to live so that our lives should prove the doc- 
trine true. That you have all been brought to 
an experimental trust in the blessed Saviour is 
the happy consummation sought. 

" But we have, perhaps, discussed this ques- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 39 

tion sufficiently to prepare us for our proposed 
effort in behalf of our young friends. We will 
try to make further practical testing of the same 
means in order, by the help of God, to do them 
good, and lead them to know Christ and find 
their joy in his service.'' 



CHAPTER IV. 

AN OLD SCENE, BUT NEW EYES. 

" \ T 7ELL, boys," inquired Milton Dean of 
* * his two young friends, on their return 
from a day's fishing in the little lake bordered 
by a dismal swamp, " what kind of sport did 
you find ? Did you fill your baskets with trout 
and bullfrogs ?" 

" Oh, we had a jolly good time, of course," 
replied Rudolph. " We caught two little dace, 
one trout that would weigh an — ounce, and a 
good ducking : glorious achievement ! In try- 
ing to make a short cut through the swamp we 
boxed the compass, and wandered round until 
we found ourselves on the very borders of the 
Slough of Despond, into which we plunged most 
bravely, and wallowed and floundered until the 
very owls hooted at us in derision. You ought 
to have heard the bullfrogs as they shouted, 
'Charley! Charley! Rudolph! Rudolph!' until 

40 




The Beautiful Ladder. 



Page 40. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 4 1 

the whole swamp was filled with their exulta- 
tions at our predicament." 

" Delightful, wasn't it, Milton ?" added David- 
son ; " and what an apt instance it furnishes us 
of the ways of the world ! In seeking its prom- 
ised pleasures we generally get more smutches 
and pains than true enjoyments. And, by the 
by, Milton/' he continued, " I think the dismal 
scene of stagnation, death, and discord through 
which we passed may stand as a very plausible 
argument against your father's favorite theory, 
that all things show the clear tracings of super- 
natural design and skill, in beauty of forms and 
special adaptations." 

"Yes," replied Milton, "that is my father's 
theory ; and it seems to me that it must be held 
by every intelligent being whose eyes are open ; 
and it may, perhaps, seem a little singular that 
the very scene through which you had such an 
unpropitious ramble, and which you instance as 
disproving the doctrine, my father has used as 
an apt illustration of its truth." 

"Well, I should say, emphatically," replied 

Davidson, "that it would require a wonderful 

amount of sophistry and special pleading to 

frame an argument from such premises. It 
4 * 



42 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

would be interesting, at least, if not instructive, 
to listen to such an array of inapt instances. 
From the practical experience which we had in 
threading the dark and slimy fens of that quaking- 
slough it will require a mighty array of logic to 
brush the mud from our garments and get its 
stench out of our nostrils, and transform it into 
a paradise of wisdom and beauty." 

" Yet it has been done in my case, at least," 
said Milton ; " and my experience gives the 
hope that even one as sceptical as you are may 
be led to cherish a different view of that which 
is now so repulsive. Nature in its most un- 
promising external aspects ever conceals gems 
of creative beauty, which quickened and illu- 
mined eyes will search out, and the delighted 
soul enjoy. I will ask my father to repeat his 
sketch of the dismal swamp as connected with 
his own studies and experience, for it has had a 
marked influence on his mental and moral train- 
ing. It was the subject of one of our evening 
conversations, and was to us an exceedingly 
interesting discussion." 

Both of the young men expressed a strong 
desire to listen to this rehearsal, feeling sure 
that if it did not bring conviction as to the truth 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 43 

of the theory, it would at least afford a pleasant 
evening's entertainment. It was therefore ar- 
ranged that, if Mr. Dean would consent, an 
evening should be spent at the cottage in lis- 
tening to this recital, and the young friends 
separated to await the event. 

When the appointed evening arrived, Doctor 
Dean gave a cordial welcome to the young 
students, and most cheerfully acceded to their 
request. He began by saying: 

" In my early years I spent many hours in 
rambles around the lake and marsh which you 
visited the other day. It has but a small outlet, 
and consequently is in a state of almost tota. 
stagnation during the hotter seasons of the 
year. To make the prospect still more deso- 
late and repelling, an extensive marsh and peat- 
bog stretches away, filling the whole range of 
vision. The borders of the bog and lake then, 
as now, were fringed with thick clumps of 
alders, white birch, larches, vines, and other 
rank growths of such localities. Reeds and 
spatterdocks abounded everywhere, generally 
fringing some dread shaking bogs, where more 
than one tragedy has occurred which make them 
objects of terror to the juvenile gatherers of the 



44 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

native cranberries which grow abundantly on 
their borders. 

" It was the paradise of the whole genera- 
tion of frogs, from the little piping tenor, whose 
rapid notes so nearly resemble the clatter of 
the watchman's rattle, to the monster bullfrog, 
whose sonorous bass boomed across march 
and mere : 

* The fenny frogs, with croakings hoarse and deep, 
And gnats, loud buzzing, drive away our sleep.' 

" Clouds of Canadian geese or ducks hov- 
ered over the place in the spring and fall, and 
made the waters dark as they tarried to feed 
during their annual migrations. To add to the 
weird music, they filled the night with their 
garrulous complainings, and met with a dismal 
response from numberless owls, who hovered 
there for the rich banqueting furnished by the 
frogs and young ducklings. It was a scene of 
unearthly din, and the visible scenic revelations 
were in harmonious keeping with the uncouth 
minstrelsy of the place. At times swarms of 
fire-flies were so thick as fairly to illuminate 
the dark landscape, often seemingly led, like an 
army of fire-fiends, by some vagrant Will-d-the- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 4$ 

wisp, or, as called more generally, the Jack-o- 
lantern. But words can give you but a faint 
idea of that grotesque landscape, and so they 
need not be multiplied; only let the shading be 
put in most freely and sombrely, and the picture 
will not be overdrawn. 

" Trained under the influence of a neighbor- 
hood mostly settled by descendants from that 
section of Massachusetts which felt the blight 
of the Salem witchcraft, it was natural that the 
young and susceptible imagination should be 
misdirected, and behold in such surroundings a 
picture of Nature's most horrid painting, where 
the background would be filled with 

* Gorgons and chimeras dire.' 

" Oh, how often, when belated at a neigh- 
bor's house, were the borders of that dread 
landscape trodden by flying feet as the truant 
sped homeward, not daring to look behind, lest 
some ghost or hobgoblin should be seen in full 
chase ! 

" Tarn O'Shanter, when his gray mare, Meg, 
carried him, by that last desperate leap, safely 
past the keystone of the Brig of Ayr, was not 
more exultant in his sense of safety than was 



4° THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

the flying truant when he had once safely passed 
that scene of youthful terrors, and the latch- 
string of the humble home was pulled with a 
desperate jerk, and the door once more snugly 
closed behind him. 

" The memory of that landscape was a dark 
one. For years it was the image which the 
young mind associated with the dark abode 
of the lost. 

" Years of absence and study had corrected 
and modified many early mistakes and miscon- 
ceptions, and had opened up new scenes of 
beauty and sources of pleasure where only bar- 
renness seemed at first to abound ; but still the 
dark imagery of that lake of desolation remained 
clear and distinct. After wandering for a quar- 
ter of a century amid other scenes, and gaining 
a somewhat extensive knowledge of the wonder- 
treasures of the world, the home of childhood 
was again revisited. When the steps were first 
turned in that direction, there hung the dark 
scene of the dismal swamp and stagnant stretch 
of water, as vivid as ever. Standing at last on 
the familiar old spot, and looking out on a scene 
but little changed in its outlines, the weird en- 
chantment of other days was broken. The 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 4? 

dark picture that was seen could no longer hide 
the wonders and glory of the invisible. They 
were clear to the mind, and their brightness put 
out of view the dark earthliness which concealed 
them. Every object of former dread was trans- 
formed into a subject of pleasing study or trans- 
figured into a scene of wonder and beauty. Frog 
and fly, bird and bat, reeds and rushes, bog and 
mere, and even the dark masses of slimy algae, 
known to childhood as the disgusting ' frog- 
spittle,' were found on a little inspection to be 
full of beauty and interest. Alas, what perver- 
sions and pains are caused by ignorance and 
misapprehension ! Nothing is common or un- 
clean which God has made. It is our own 
blindness or superstition that fails to see in 
everything about us the work of the divine 
hand. 

" We will turn to the very spot which once 
seemed the most fitting emblem of Tophet, and 
more than a blank in nature — a hideous blot on 
its surface. Here, or in any similar scene, the 
wonder-working power of God may be readily 
discovered. Everywhere will be found linger- 
ings of that Paradise which God planted and 
made pleasant to the eye; and in every new 



48 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

object there will be found on careful examina- 
tion a foretaste and glimpse of the brighter 
home above. 

" To be successful in our investigation, we 
must go to it with acutely quickened senses and 
a perseverance that will overcome all difficulties. 
These will bring many of the hidden secrets 
and beauties to light. But we must not stop 
with such revelations as the unaided senses can 
give us, though these will be rich enough to 
repay all the diligence and care of the search- 
ing. One of the brightest achievements of 
Science is her invention of instruments, by 
means of which we can penetrate deeply into 
the secrets of Nature, and reach such remote 
distances as not only to astonish us at what is 
revealed, but to cause us to stand in awe before 
the instrumentality which has brought the won- 
der under our inspection. 

" As we go to disenchant scenes of youthful 
horror, and turn them into God's treasure- 
houses of wisdom and beauty, we must take 
our microscope with us. With the aid of this 
wonderful glass, where the unaided vision be- 
holds only loathsomeness and deformity, mar- 
vellous transformations will take place, and the 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 49 

mind will revel in the discoveries of beauty that 
we shall make. 

" But our great object is not merely to dis- 
cover beauties for the gratification of our taste. 
There is a higher aim and a greater good for 
which we should seek. Whatever we may se- 
lect for our examination, we should ask these 
questions in regard to it : * What is it ? How is 
it made ? For what is it made ? Who is the 
maker?' Thus the study of Nature would grat- 
ify our intellect, by giving us clear and distinct 
knowledge of the things that are about us; it 
would also gratify our taste, by opening to our 
view beauties of form and of adaptation, perhaps 
new, strange, wonderful ; but, above and beyond 
all this, the study, if properly conducted, would 
lead us to look through Nature up to Nature's 
God,- making known to us more and more fully, 
as we advance, his wisdom and power and good- 
ness and glory, and leading us to desire as our 
highest happiness, our greatest good, to be fash- 
ioned into his image, conformed to his will, 
fitted for his presence, made the everlasting 
sharers of his glory and joy. Happy the man 
who finds the study of Nature a beautiful ladder 
by which he climbs from clod to clouds, from 
5 D 



SO THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

clouds to God; and who thus becomes so truly- 
enlightened by the study, that the incense of his 
altar is a grateful tribute to the adorable Creator, 
and not a profane offering to the creature or a 
pagan sacrifice to science falsely so-called. 

"Let us not hesitate to follow the present lead- 
ing because we begin our search for the wonder- 
ful and beautiful on the borders of a stagnant 
pond. Filled, apparently, only with objects of 
loathing, it seems to the unsealed eyes as it did 
to the distorted youthful imagination, only a re- 
pository of the earth's excrescences to gender 
deformity and death. Unsightly masses of mud 
and slime, and rank growths, filled with crawling 
worms, water-beetles, and disgusting amphibia, 
surely this is not the place for discovering pecu- 
liar waymarks of wisdom and loveliness. But 
let us look with a careful inspection, 

8 Not loathing, but lovingly,' 

and the scales will drop from our vision, and 
the revelation will be so rich that we shall lin- 
ger with ever-growing delight around the bor- 
ders of such an enchanted world. 

" What a field is here opened for the exercise 
of every pious emotion ! and how irresistibly do 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 5 I 

such contemplations as these awaken the sensi- 
bility of the soul ! Here is infinite power, to 
impress you with awe — here is infinite wisdom, 
to fill you with admiration — here is infinite 
goodness, to call forth your gratitude and love. 
The correspondence between these great objects 
and the affections of the human heart is estab- 
lished by Nature itself; and they need only to 
be placed before us that every religious feeling 
may be excited. 

" Having thus led you to the borders of the 
disenchanted lake, in our next interview I will 
try and show how the scales were removed from 
my eyes. With a most fervent hope that our 
interviews may be blest to your good, in bright- 
er views of God's handiwork and gracious pro- 
visions for our happiness, I most cordially invite 
you to my social circle, and to such instructions 
as I may be enabled to give." 



CHAPTER V. 

THE FOOT ON THE LOWEST ROUND. 

T^vOCTOR DEAN desired to make his effort 
-^-^ to place the feet of his young pupils on 
the first round of Nature's beautiful ladder both 
pleasant and successful ; therefore, in connection 
with his children, he planned a visit and a pic- 
nic dinner on the borders of the pond where 
they had met with such a dismal experience, 
which was but the repetition of his own early 
misinterpretation of Nature. Taking his micro- 
scope and other requisites, the party repaired to 
the scene of investigation. On their way Ru- 
dolph remarked to his friend, 

44 Well, Charley, say what you may of Doc- 
tor Dean's arguments, you will not deny that 
his methods are a little more agreeable than 
dull class-rooms and prosy lectures. We did 
not anticipate having a pleasant picnic with the 
girls." 

52 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 53 

"That is true," was the response, "and I can 
take a pretty thick slice of morality if it is only 
sandwiched as delightfully as to-day's homily 
is likely to be. But I suspect that this nice 
arrangement indicates a conscious weakness in 
the logic of the lesson, and the doctor will effect 
a cunning retreat by diverting attention with 
cold chicken and feminine sweetness." 

"That may be true," was Rudolph's reply, 
" but let us at least give him credit for his benev- 
olence in making provision against all chances 
of passing a dull day. We shall be taught 
one practical lesson, at any rate — that when 
we are fated to look upon that which is repel- 
lant we can mitigate our disgust by carrying 
with us something that will serve to modify its 
unpleasant surroundings. A cheerful heart and 
good company have brightened many a darker 
landscape than w T ill meet our eyes to-day. — But 
a truce, Charley ; the girls will think us boors 
if we spend all our sweetness on ourselves. So 
if you will help Minnie over the bogs, I will see 
that Ella does not fall into the Slough of De- 
spond." 

The day was one of those still and dreamy 
ones when the whole landscape seems slumber- 

5* 



54 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

ing in a kind of blissful drowsiness. The rays 
of the sun were glinting with a mellow radi- 
ance over the surface of the water and the soft 
plots of peat-bogs, or casting golden pencils 
of quivering light as they rifted through the 
branches of larch and willow. From the abun- 
dant green masses of spatterdocks and tangled 
algae which thickened the shallow waters, an 
unceasing effervescence of oxygen-bubbles flash- 
ed to the surface, sparkling like a fountain of 
shooting pearls. To the eye and touch of the 
unobserving, these collections were suggestive 
only of miasma and death, and the first thought 
would be to turn away and shut out the dreary 
picture, and seek to escape the danger of breath- 
ing its infected atmosphere. But the hand of 
him " who doeth all things well " fashioned 
these dark forms of growth, and gave them a 
place and a purpose in the economy of Nature, 
and doubtless a careful inspection will bring out 
clear traces of the divine handiwork. Let no 
one, therefore, be driven from an investigation 
by the repulsive outward appearance, or by any 
suspicion of lurking danger. A true love of 
Nature, by arousing an increase of vitality, often 
proves a shield to guard us from harm. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 55 

" We take up," began Doctor Dean, " a hand- 
ful of these slimy growths, and the first strong 
impulse is to throw them back into the water 
with disgust ; but let us resist this rash impulse, 
and there will be a rich reward for our self-con- 
trol. A little inspection of the mass in hand 
will reveal, even to the unaided vision, wonder- 
ful outlines of beauty and curious forms of 
adaptation, begetting a strong desire to enjoy 
the richer treasures which we are sure lie hid- 
den among these limp filaments. We hold a 
tangled mass of confervoid algce. Dissatisfied 
with the partial revelation to the natural eye, 
we adjust a minute portion of the collection un- 
der the microscope. Marvellous transformation ! 
The repulsive network of slimy vegetation ar- 
rests our attention by unexpected and brilliant 
forms of beauty, and we start back to examine 
our adjustment, lest we have mistaken the object 
placed under our instrument; but no, there is 
no misplacement before our lens, only a vast 
misconception of Nature's handiwork has been 
suddenly wrenched from the mind, and a place 
given to a new birth of thought. And now, 
while glowing with this delightful impulse, let 
us give careful inspection to the wonder-reveal- 



56 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

ing mass in our hands, and we shall no longer 
turn away from the stagnant pond or fenny bog 
as only homes where the 

* Frogs have sung their old songs in the mud,' 

or as dread reservoirs, distilling fevers, poison, 
and death." 

Though somewhat familiar with the wonder- 
revealing power of the microscope, the young 
observers were nevertheless deeply interested 
by this new and unexpected exhibition of its 
transforming potency. The slimy repulsiveness 
had vanished as they gazed at the dark fronds 
through the instrument, and Oscillatorice and 
Spirogyrce were glowing in their golden and 
emerald splendors. 

When satisfied with gazing at the exquisite 
beauty of forms presented, Doctor Dean quick- 
ened their attention by. referring to the singular 
movements observed in some of these vegetable 
fibres. 

" In many of these fronds of algse," said he, 
" there is seen a series of marvellous transfor- 
mations, which approach wonderfully near the 
instincts of animal life, and which for a time 
left the closest observers in doubt where they 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 57 

ought to class them — whether as animal or veg- 
etable, or whether as a link between the two 
orders. 

" Mark those now under our instrument. The 
motions are generally slow, but sufficiently dis- 
tinct to be characterized. They now stretch 
out into an emerald wand well befitting a queen- 
ly hand, and anon break up into gems that 
would add new lustre to her diadem. These 
are but different stages of the progressive plant 
life, and are so singular as at once to raise the 
low order into the plane where the mind is held 
with a bewildered astonishment. That myste- 
rious Power which pervades everything has 
quickened even these low beginnings of vege- 
table life with authority to make known his 
glory and beneficence, as they push forward to 
fill some great purpose in creative goodness. In 
our subsequent researches we shall learn some- 
thing of the benevolence which included these 
obscure agencies in the grand scale of causes, 
as we shall find these slimy masses of pond 
vegetation feeding an animal life more minute 
than themselves, and this in turn ministering 
to a higher, until we find the benevolent pur- 
pose completed in that ever-open hand whose 



5S THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

infinite fulness ' satisfieth the desire of every 
living thing.' 

" If we pass from fresh to salt water vege- 
tation, a more wonderful array of plant life 
is brought under notice, stretching from the 
most minute growths to the gigantic sea- weeds, 
many hundreds of feet in length, and of forms 
and colors of most exquisite shapings and 
shades, dazzling the beholder. But so many 
things await our attention that we must pass 
them, only pausing to mention that they were 
the first-born of the vegetable world, and are 
replete with marks of divine skill and adorn- 
ment- — a study for a life, and a rich compensa- 
tion for all the time and care given to their 
investigation. 

" Wherever a watery influence is found, the 
green covering of rocks, old logs, shells, and 
whatever else lies submerged or damp, there 
flourishes in luxuriance and beauty some mi- 
nute order of confervoid life. Often marvellous 
in structure and modes of propagation, with 
endowments of surpassing grace and brilliancy, 
these orders may well hold the admiring atten- 
tion of the curious and wonder-loving, notwith- 
standing their uninviting localities. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 59 

" The devout investigator can clearly trace 
the hand of the all-wise and beneficent One in 
all these humble and obscure forms of life. To 
such quickened minds, the purpose which these 
watery resources subserve is not hard to com- 
prehend. In every frond of algae, however 
minute, there will be noticed, as will be men- 
tioned in the sequel, countless myriads of infu- 
sorial life feeding on these rich submerged pas- 
tures. These invisible forms of life are thus 
fed and fattened for others in a higher series, 
and these in turn for orders still more perfect, 
until, in the ascending scale, man becomes the 
rich inheritor of the wealth accumulated by so 
many plant and animal industries. 

" Nor must the purpose which submerged veg- 
etation serves as a great conservator of health 
be passed unnoticed. Every pond and other 
body of still water would undoubtedly breed only 
contagion and death if its fell accumulations 
were not in some way counteracted. And how 
beneficently all this is provided for by these ob- 
scure forms of vegetation ! It is a fact, famil- 
iar to all, that a body of water standing undis- 
turbed for any considerable length of time be- 
comes stagnant and unhealthy; but every one 



60 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

acquainted with the management of an aqua- 
rium has learned the interesting fact that a few 
water-growing plants will preserve the same 
water in a vital condition for many months. 
This interesting discovery was but finding out 
one of the great secrets of Nature, which ex- 
plained one of the purposes of the rank veg- 
etable growths of all bodies of water. The 
teeming animal life and vast and rapid decay 
of aqueous plants soon rob the waters of all 
their vital stores of oxygen ; and if thus left, 
death would brood over every foot of ocean and 
lake. But stand by the shore where submerged 
plants are growing, and as the sun arises and 
touches the surface with his beams, mark how 
the thick bubbles of oxygen sparkle amid the 
mass of vegetation, and in constant streams 
ascend and burst into the air. This process 
restores the life-giving element to water, and 
health floats on its white wings to the waiting 
inhabitants on its borders. With this marvel 
of divine goodness fresh before the mind, who 
will treat with loathing or neglect the humblest 
plant that mingles with its slimy sisterhood of 
algae? 

" We have taken but a mere glimpse of the 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 6 1 

real treasures of the frog-pond, but it is surely 
insight enough to dispel the dark shadowings 
which at first repelled us from its banks. The 
gloom and death have passed away, like the fog 
that often obscures its surface when morning 
stands, jocund on the misty mountain-top. 

" Our study of the algae has taken the scales 
from our eyes and lifted a burden of dread from 
the mind. The scene that brooded so drearily 
before the eyes of youth, and dwelt so darkly 
in memory, is transfigured. It no longer ex- 
hales only poison and death, but is seen to 
have a wealth of gems and benevolent possi- 
bilities. 

" Should we turn from the mysteries of crea- 
tion hidden among the slimy deposits beneath the 
waters, and give a few moments to a closer in- 
spection of the mosses and lichens, a new world 
of beauty and wonder would be opened to our 
vision. One who has not studied them cannot 
have any just conception of the marvels exist- 
ing in these humble and obscure forms of veg- 
etable life. Found everywhere, and forming the 
lowest order of dry-land plant life, they are 
nevertheless endowed with singular elements of 
growth and beauties of form and coloring. But 



62 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

as our line of investigation calls to a different 
field, mosses and fungi will be left to other ram- 
bles in Nature's obscurer pathways. (Frontis- 
piece.) 

" Pausing for a moment in our wanderings by 
pond and moss-bank, we wonder at the change 
which has taken place in our conceptions of 
Nature's handiwork. The low and obscure 
orders which have been under notice have 
become no longer disgusting, but are found to 
possess attractions that invite and well repay 
our investigations. After such revelations we 
are prepared to repeat, with an emphasis never 
before experienced, ' He hath made every thing 
beautiful in his time ; also he hath set the world 
in his heart ; so that no man can find out the 
work that God maketh from the beginning to 
the end.' 

"The moral of this study of humble vege- 
table orders is obvious. ' The Lord seeth not 
as man seeth ; for man looketh on the outward 
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart' 
Man is prone to judge of things from what, on 
a hasty and imperfect glance, they seem to be ; 
God, however, judges from what things actually 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 6$ 

are. It seems to me that what we have seen to- 
day teaches this lesson, that we need to exercise 
extreme caution lest in our ignorance we greatly 
misjudge the works of God. He has pro- 
nounced all the works of his hands ' good/ and 
it is presumptuous and profane to impeach the 
divine verdict." 

After this study of obscure life, the lowest 
round at the very foot of Nature's beautiful 
ladder, the party repaired to the shade of some 
evergreens overspreading a luxuriant mossy car- 
pet, and proceeded to enjoy an abundant picnic 
dinner which the girls soon spread in order. 
It was evident that this part of the programme 
for the day's enjoyment was fully appreciated by 
the young visitors ; as to the moral effects of 
the lessons of the day, later revelations must 
give answer. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE SECOND STEP, OR A CASKET OF POND 
JEWELRY, 

A FTER accompanying the Deans to their 
-^•*- home, the two young friends repaired to 
the quietness of their own room, both seeming 
to be in a somewhat reflective mood, which was 
at last broken by Rudolph, who said, 

" Well, Charley, what is the prime factor in 
this day's experience ? Is it cold chicken, ani- 
mated calico, or confervoid algae? As to my 
conclusions, I think I could make a tolerable 
life of it with such surroundings." 

" Ah yes, perhaps so," was the rejoinder, u but 
I have not yet quite succeeded in fixing the 
equations of the problem to my satisfaction. 
The cold chicken was excellent, flirting with the 
girls delightful, and the doctor's conversation 
very entertaining ; all of which will leave a more 
agreeable recollection of the dismal surround- 

64 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 65 

ings than we should have carried away had we 
departed with nothing but the remembrance 
of our night's floundering among its bogs and 
mud-holes. But then, the sum-total of the ex- 
perience is only as a flash of light in the dark- 
ness; the moment's illumination leaves the 
gloom more intense than it was before. We 
cannot always thus dally along the pathway of 
life, and its brief resting-places are too few and 
far between, and only serve to make the thoughts 
of journeying from one to the other more pain- 
ful ; indeed, every new indulgence only makes 
me shrink with a greater reluctance from mak- 
ing another effort." 

" Well, I am sorry," replied his companion, 
" and I much fear that the cold chicken and 
sandwiches have not set well, or that Miss Min- 
nie has somehow disturbed your equanimity, so 
that you have not quite got the true intent of 
Doctor Dean's instructions. If I have correctly 
understood him, he is trying to show us that 
the bright spots in life's progress are neither so 
few nor far between as we often imagine; nay, 
rather, that there is really no gap at all, except 
as we make one ourselves, the pathway being 
one of continued radiance if we will only open 

6* E 



66 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER 

our eyes to behold the illumination. We had a 
sad and painful experience when wallowing in 
the slough the other night, and hurled our an- 
athemas upon it without stint ; and should have 
judged it to be about the last place in all crea- 
tion where one could look to find stores of de- 
lightful entertainment. Doctor Dean has shown 
me, at least, that such conclusions would have 
been entirely wrong. He has made it plain that 
the very mud and slime which smeared and re- 
pelled us the other night are nevertheless teem- 
ing with forms of beauty, and that they are 
correlated with a beneficence of design which 
culminates in man's completer happiness. " 

" All very true," was the reply. " I inferred 
that such was his purpose, and I give him all 
the credit due for his kind intentions ; but to 
me the force of his logic was not at all conclu- 
sive. The foot of his ladder is planted in the 
mud, and I fear that as we attempt to climb it 
it will sink deeper and deeper, so that when we 
reach the top round, instead of being above 
clouds and storms, we shall still find ourselves 
floundering in the same slough of despondency 
from which we sought to escape." 

" But let us hope for better results," responded 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 67 

Rudolph. " For one, I feel disposed to give the 
good doctor a fair and candid hearing, and will 
try and hold fast to all that is good, and I hope 
you will fully join me in this determination. 
We shall at least make some progress in natural 
science, if we do not in forming truer concep- 
tions of life." 

" Oh, certainly," was Davidson's reply. " I 
was very much interested in the strange and 
beautiful revelations of the microscope, and 
shall be ready to attend the doctor whenever 
he shall invite our attention to new objects of 
study." 

u All right, then," was the answer ; " we are 
in for the frog-pond course, and I hope it may 
as completely remove the mirk from our minds 
as we have cleansed its mud and slime from 
our clothes." 

At the appointed time teacher and pupils were 
standing on the borders of the pond, and Doc- 
tor Dean began his lesson by saying: 

" Our attention was arrested the other day 
by some elegantly shaped and colored objects 
that were floating across the field of our micro- 
scope. The first strong impression of the un- 
instructed would be that they were gazing upon 



68 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 

a rare collection of gems curiously endowed 
with the power of independent motion. Could 
the fact not be readily substantiated, it would 
not be easily credited that these splendid bril- 
liants are only exquisite forms of vegetation, 
which may be fished from the slimy deposits 
of a frog-pond. But such is the fact, incred- 
ible as it may seem, and it is not the only 
striking instance wherein some grand secret 
of Nature is unexpectedly brought into clear 
observation by the wonderful instrument we 
are using. Many a burden of superstition and 
dread has been rolled from the mind by its 
truthful illuminations ; as, for instance, in the 
case of reputed showers of blood. These phe- 
nomena have filled whole neighborhoods with 
horror and dismay. Now, a moment's inspec- 
tion of these sanguine drops in comparison with 
true human blood will dispel the ghastly terror 
at once. The irregular blotches of Palmella 
cruenta, which these dreaded drops prove to 
be, bear little or no resemblance to the beau- 
tiful and perfectly-formed blood-disks of the 
human veins and arteries. Ignorance and su- 
perstition are blind guides in Nature's pathways, 
ever mistaking her revelations and purposes, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 69 

and then charging her with the sad results of 
their own follies. But go where we may and 
search what we will, a devout sense of an all- 
pervading wisdom and goodness will illuminate 
and beautify the path of our steps and the ob- 
jects of our contemplation. 

"A striking illustration of the divine asso- 
ciation of a devout spirit and a keen insight 
into the secrets of Nature is furnished by the 
minute and beautiful forms of vegetable life 
now under contemplation. Found more or 
less plentiful in all fresh waters, they particu- 
larly abound in clear pools and gently-running 
brooks, where they often form thick accumula- 
tions over everything submerged, giving a del- 
icate tinge of green to the entire waters. 

" The forms of these vegetable gems are of 
the most exquisite patterns — diamonds, crosses, 
shields, crescents, scrolls, ribbons, globes, and 
stars, and all the devices of heraldry. The 
centres are generally of a brilliant green, del- 
icately bordered and barred with filigree-work 
of purest crystal or pale azure. In nearly all 
the specimens minute dividing-marks are seen, 
and when watched closely for a time an actual 
separation takes place, and the gem breaks up 



70. THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

into two or more fragments. The rending, 
however, has not destroyed the exquisite struc- 
ture : far otherwise ; it has only added new 
brilliants to the collection of watery gems. 

" These marvels of vegetable beauty possess 
not only the faculty of multiplying by subdivis- 
ion, but the reverse one of conjugation. They 
not only break in pieces, but unite their frag- 
ments, and in either case a new gem has birth. 

" The varieties of vegetable beauties already 
named may be called the fixed jewelry of the 
pond ; but wonderful as they may be, they are 
quite eclipsed by another class which may often 
be seen rolling and flashing across the field 
of vision, as with a microscope we are scanning 
with enraptured gaze the tiny brilliants of a 
water-drop. The thrill of delight experienced 
when the eye first beheld the exquisite Volvox 
globator will never be forgotten, nor when it 
traced the more gorgeously colored Eudo- 
rina moving in graceful evolutions through its 
watery home. Startled by the first sight of 
such marvels of beauty where their presence 
had never been suspected, the eye follows the 
mazy dance of gems with exquisite delight as 
they flash back the rays of light in all the daz- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. J\ 

zling tints of the rainbow. Under such a spell, 
it is not surprising that it requires some mo- 
ments of cool reflection to fix the conviction 
in the mind that what we are gazing upon is 
an actuality and not a brilliant dream. 

" In a former study we met with certain veg- 
etable fronds that were endowed with a show 
of independent motion akin to animal life, but 
these plants were fixed and stationary. In the 
Volvocina we first meet with the singular forms 
of vegetable life possessing the power of loco- 
motion as completely as any of the more high- 
ly-gifted races of the animal kingdom. Indeed, 
this gift, which had always been thought the 
exclusive distinction of the animal orders, was 
found in such perfection in these vegetable won- 
ders that the first observers placed them without 
hesitation among the animals — a mistaken judg- 
ment, that was only corrected by the searching 
tests of chemical analysis. 

" The Volvox globator is first observed as a 
minute globe-like cell, moving quite rapidly, 
with a rolling eccentric motion, often suddenly 
reversed or turned to one side. Its body seems 
formed of jelly slightly clouded, in which are 
embedded a number of little greenish spots, 



72 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

being the germs of new organisms. The whole 
globe is enveloped in a delicate network, like 
that surrounding a balloon. Projecting from 
each intersection of the net-strands, two hairy 
filaments are noticed, by means of which the 
motion of the body is obtained. Often the 
movement of the parent globe is arrested, and 
for a moment it seems turning on a pivot, and 
then comes nearly to rest. If now watched 
closely, a rupture is seen to take place, and one 
of the green spores makes its escape, when 
parent and child at once part company, each 
moving off, indifferent as to the fate of the 
other. This, in brief, gives the general for- 
mation and destiny of the Volvox. Were de- 
scriptive science the object of these studies, 
many hours could be passed in giving the won- 
derful endowments of these gems of the pond, 
their mutations and modes of propagation. But 
this is not our purpose ; we study to admire the 
work and adore the Worker, and so will not 
cumber our thoughts nor dull our sensibilities 
by detail and technicalties. 

"To enjoy a personal inspection of these ex- 
quisite productions of Nature, the microscope 
must be used. With this instrument in hand, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 73 

go on some August day to a clear pond or 
meadow rain-pool and gather a few fronds of 
any water-plants or strands of submerged hay, 
and you will doubtless have an opportunity to 
feast your eyes on some of the most exquisite 
objects ever looked upon. In addition to those 
specimens of water-jewelry already named, but 
more rarely, the Eudorina will be found float- 
ing and rolling before the eyes. Smaller in 
size, but more rich in coloring, it is indeed a 
thing of beauty. The Synura and several other 
forms of this order of minute vegetable life will 
be found, but further detail may be omitted, for, 
like the rainbow, description can give no just 
conception of the bright reality : sight alone can 
hold the picture up to the excited imagination, 
and then there will be room and verge enough 
before the mind will fully get the glories of this 
beautiful life as Jehovah fashioned it. 

"What a sublime idea of creative power is 
impressed upon the mind when we try and 
measure its possibilities from the standpoint of 
these globular atoms in a drop of water, sweep- 
ing onward and upward to the incomprehensible 
magnitudes of the stellar worlds ! And truly, 
the infinitely great has not plainer proofs of the 



74 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

handiwork of the omnipotent One than are im- 
pressed on the infinitely small. The magni- 
tude, so vast that our powers of mind fail in 
attempts to comprehend it, makes no clearer 
revelation of God than does that which is so 
small that we are unable to measure diameter 
or circumference. Man could as easily make 
the great as he could fashion the small ; and 
more easily, for the great might be only dead 
matter, but the minute lives. 

" Before this lesson of Nature's marvels is 
complete, one other member of the beautiful Vol- 
vocinas must receive a fitting mention — the Go- 
num pectorale, or microscopic shield. There is 
now before the eyes a nearly square plate of 
hyaline, or jelly-like matter, enclosing sixteen 
minute green points. The body is constantly 
in motion, which is varied at almost every turn ; 
now sidewise, oscillating, seesawing, or rotat- 
ing ; often with a sudden reversal of the move- 
ment. In the midst of these evolutions the 
body flies apart into sections of four green 
spots, and each one keeps right on in its inde- 
pendent life, beginning anon to repair the dam- 
age by restoring to each separated mass the 
original number of sixteen spots. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 7$ 

" But we must pause, though the collection 
of vegetable jewelry has received but a partial 
examination. The object of the lesson, it is 
hoped, has been obtained — the rescue of seem- 
ingly natural deformities from the unjust judg- 
ment passed upon them, and the corresponding 
impeachment of the works and ways of him 
who made all things in infinite wisdom for a 
place and a purpose, the glory of his name and 
the good of his creatures. 

" Whoever has been enlightened by a study 
such as just been set before our minds can 
never contemplate the places where Nature has 
made such rich depositories of her treasures 
with loathing, nor sanction the charge of mis- 
directed energies. On the contrary, one thus 
instructed and delighted will hold in a new and 
clear light the works of God, and feel a stronger 
impulse to join in devout adoration. One so 
enlightened will have more vivid conceptions 
of divine goodness. He will not only see the 
glory of the Creator spread over the heavens, 
and touching hill and valley with something of 
his own majesty and beauty, but mark its illu- 
minating beams among the most obscure walks 
and ways of Nature. With this wonder-reveal- 



7& THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

ing guide, we can descend among the slimy de- 
posits of pond and pool, and find everywhere such 
marvels of beauty and skill that there will be no 
mistaking the source of these rich adornings. 

" But, clear and unmistakable as have been 
the waymarks of Jehovah's presence in wonder- 
working skill among the algae of the ponds, the 
study of the treasures therein concealed is but 
just begun. The life and beauties thus far 
traced out are endowments of the lower orders 
of vegetable life ; the thing ' having life ' has 
only been brought into observation. This life 
the plant has fed and nurtured, and has served 
but as the scaffolding of the building of animal 
existence. During our investigations, however, 
the foundation-stones of this grand superstruc- 
ture have been revealed — hidden, like those min- 
istering to their formation and growth, by their 
own minuteness. In the next study we will 
take another step up the ladder of creative prog- 
ress, which will elevate us to the plane of the 
animal kingdom, though the step will be but a 
short one — from Desmid to Diatom — and leave 
us still beneath the waters of the frog-pond." 

" Well, Lew," said Davidson, as they parted 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 77 

from their instructor, " I will admit that I have 
been very much interested to-day without the 
adjuncts of feminine attractions and good eat- 
ing ; which piece of good news may lead you 
to cherish some hopes that I may yet be 
brought into a tolerable degree of civilization." 

" Bravo, chum !" was the response of Ru- 
dolph ; " that is a very encouraging sign, if the 
fit will only last long enough to hold you to the 
better purpose. There must be something in 
man's destiny worthy of a noble ambition, and 
it certainly is more manly to strive to search it 
out than to drop down to the level of the brutes, 
to live without an object and die without a hope." 

" Well," replied Davidson, " if I hold to my 
present determination, the bears and wolves 
may lose a rare companionship, and so let us 
open our eyes and ears, and may our better 
angel guide us to a happy conclusion !" 

''Amen to that prayer!" said Lewis, "and 

may he give us a good speeding !" 

7* 



CHAPTER VII. 

the beauties of the "first-born of 
life:' 

A S two days spent on the borders of the 
•**■ dismal pond were regarded by Doctor 
Dean as amply sufficient to fix the desired 
impression, the next interview with his young 
friends was appointed to take place in his study, 
where suitable provision was made to continue 
his researches by abundant specimens of its 
turbid waters and submerged plants. 

On the designated evening the welcome visi- 
tors found the doctor and his family assembled 
in the cozy library, with his microscope and 
specimens properly arranged for the lesson of 
the hour. 

After a brief social intercourse Doctor Dean 
began his conversation by saying : 

" When we are entering upon any investiga- 
tion or pursuit, it is the part of prudence to fix 
on the definite object to be attained ; otherwise, 

78 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. ?Q 

much valuable time may be squandered, and 
our resources expended with no satisfactory 
results. We have entered upon a search into 
the mysteries of Nature, and the true question 
for us to keep in view is, ' To what result are we 
aiming?' The final purpose will have much to 
do in determining the instrumentalities which 
we may use in securing our object and in de- 
ciding on the real value of the results. If we 
desire to gain wealth, then we must resort to 
the crucible, hammer, and chisel, and delve in 
the workshop of science. These implements 
will help to fill the pocket, but when success is 
most complete there may still remain but an 
empty and an aching heart. Long and painful 
experience has taught all truly reflecting minds 
that knowledge has a nobler end than to heap 
up sordid treasures or feed the baser appetites. 
To reach this higher good, it has been found 
necessary to get out of the smoke of the testing- 
furnace, the noise of hammer and chisel, and to 
ask not ' What will this profit?' but l Whither does 
it lead ?' The only way that will grow brighter 
and brighter and culminate in a perfect day is 
that which leads up to the temple of worship, 
the holy place of the Most High. In that Divine 



80 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

Presence true science forgets abstractions and 
utility, and most devoutly worships. Standing 
in the vestibule of this sacred fane, the language 
and purposes of the school and counting-room 
are as much out of place as were the doves for 
sale and the coins of the money-changers in 
the Jewish temple of old. Brought there as 
devout offerings by the sincere worshipper, Je- 
hovah received them as acceptable tokens and 
blest the giver with his favor ; but when avarice 
cumbered the sacred courts with these objects 
for the purpose of barter and gain, they were a 
pollution and an offence, and the profane own- 
ers were scourged thence with indignation. 

"The study of Nature has a scientific and a 
utilitarian aspect, but they are in the lower 
plane of investigation, and they only reach the 
higher and noblest purpose of all knowledge 
who learn 

* To look through Nature up to Nature's God.' 

" Knowledge that brings the soul nearer to 
God and feeds it with the fellowship of his love 
is more to be desired than much fine gold or 
treasures of precious stones. Therefore the 
earlier in life a desire for such knowledge be- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 8 1 

comes the guiding motive in all our studies, 
the sooner will true happiness reward our 
efforts. 

" Having, as I trust, got our feet firmly fixed 
on the ascending ladder, let us keep them there, 
ever looking upward, for the * way of life is 
above to the wise.' 

11 In our previous studies we have been deal- 
ing with the lowest forms of vegetable life, and 
have found them mysterious and beautiful ; but, 
however attractive they have been, th$y must 
yield to the richer glories of the 'first-born of 
life,' which we are now to consider. 

"Take an atom of dust from any alluvial 
deposit, found on the surface or in the deepest 
strata, and it will be found mainly made up of 
the skeletons of the dead. Choose a splinter 
of marble, a piece of chalk, or any of the strat- 
ified rocks, or even of the hardest flints, and lo ! 
we are inspecting the cemetery of incomprehen- 
sible millions, whose well-preserved skeletons 
attest the fact of a marvellous multiplication 
of a past life. These remains, although so mi- 
nute, may almost lay claim to be the founda- 
tion-stones of the earth's superstructure. Fos- 
sil diatoms are found everywhere, and attract 



82 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 

not only by their abundance, but by their ex- 
quisite moulding and pencilling. Go search the 
profoundest depths of the sea, the foundations 
of the everlasting hills, or the rocks and dust 
of Egyptian tombs and pyramids, and every- 
where the remains of diatomacean life are found 
still ' beautiful in death.' The insignificant life, 
the merest clot of jelly, has passed away, but 
the silicious casket where it once tabernacled 
remains as perfect and gem-like as when the 
vitality was first dashed out. 

" Should one first pursue the study of fossil 
diatoms, he would be greatly astonished to find 
that there is an unbroken descent from such 
hoary ages. Every pond, river, lake, and ocean 
is peopled with an equal infinitude of diatoms 
bearing the unchanged lineaments of their extinct 
ancestors. If we should hang the exact portraits 
of the ancients of the race and those of their 
latest descendants in the same gallery, the most 
curious inspection could hardly designate the 
place which each should occupy in the grand 
genealogy of the family. The study of these 
ancient and minute organisms gives no sanc- 
tion to the development hypothesis. Called 
the 'first-born of life,' they have come down 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 83 

the ages, wearing the exact 'image and super- 
scription ' of the first ancestors. 

" With this knowledge to increase the awak- 
ened interest, a study of living diatoms cannot 
fail to be one of great attraction, giving enlarged 
conceptions of the marvellous works of God. 

" Returning again to the unsightly pond 
wherein so many wonderful and beautiful things 
have been found concealed, let a shallow place 
be selected where there is a plentiful infusion 
of vegetable growths. If the spot is noted 
carefully, a yellowish tinge will be found to 
prevail, quite distinct from the shade of the 
deeper waters. To a careless inspection no vis- 
ible cause for this difference will be found out. 
Dip where we may, however, and subject a drop 
of the water to the penetrating search of our 
instrument, and the golden hue is at once ac- 
counted for, and much to our astonishment. 
The discoloration is caused by uncountable mil- 
lions of exquisitely shaped and tinted minute 
shells or frustules, or leaf-like coverings, being 
in fact, the forms of living diatoms, minute 
homes of silica. What an array and perfection 
of geometrical forms and splendor of elaborate 
details ! The deftest human lapidarian art may 



84 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

copy, but never hope to emulate, the matchless 
glories of these divine originals. Too minute 
for the eye to see or the fingers to handle, Jeho- 
vah has shaped and beautified and filled earth's 
teeming waters with these treasures of his skill. 
The worker in gems spends many days in fash- 
ioning some rare device, his skill and patience 
stimulated by the admiration which he hopes to 
excite when his workmanship is placed on exhi- 
bition. No human artist would seek to fill 
some dark obscurity with elaborate specimens 
of skill and ornamentation ; but God's ways are 
not our ways ; and be.' ides, there are other eyes 
than ours to see, and other hearts to love and 
tongues to praise. The exhibition, in some 
striking way, of his omniscience and omnipres- 
ence, undoubtedly excites angelic adoration and 
wonder, as it also gives to us a more emphatic 
attestation of these infinite attributes. The star 
set in the heavens, and the mountains reared and 
girded with power, are the grander monuments 
of divine skill ; but if any place could be found 
barren of all evidences of creative wisdom and 
goodness, the scoffer might say, ' Where is thy 
God ?' To rebuke and confound all who ques- 
tion the being or power of the Infinite One, he 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 85 

has left his witnesses in all places of his domin- 
ion, and so endowed w T ith authority and truth- 
fulness that they bear no uncertain testimony. 
We cannot dig so deep into the bowels of the 
earth, descend so low into the depths of the sea, 
nor find nook or corner so hidden from common 
observation, but will be found full of gems of 
divine workmanship. 

" Look now and wonder at these tiny objects. 
They are the scrapings from an unsightly ditch, 
or have their dwellings among the slimy fronds 
of pond-weeds and submerged vegetation. Mi- 
nute as they are, and repulsive as may be their 
visible surroundings, where shall we find a fit- 
ting comparison to their beauty and a com- 
petitor to match the skill of their fashioning ? 
At the great Centennial Exhibition crowds lin- 
gered in wondering admiration among the glit- 
ter of Tiffany's collections of gems, or before the 
rich exhibits of crystals and Bohemian glass- 
ware; but in all their splendors they reached 
not the exquisite perfection of this living jew- 
elry with which God has made refulgent a drop 
of ditch-water ! Oh, how unwearied the hand 
and how unbaffled the mind that can so deli- 
cately fashion and store away in every atom of 



50 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

earth and drop of water these minute attesta- 
tions of infinite skill and goodness ! 

" These are living gems which multiply so rap- 
idly that they are adding layer after layer to the 
earth's surface, a conglomerate of minuteness 
and beauty. They are seen in verd-antique, 
agate, amethyst, jasper, opal, and many other 
precious stones, so prized as personal adorn- 
ments and objects of value. They do not pos- 
sess the activity and variety of movements seen 
in the desmids, but they have motion. Watch 
these two frustules of Navicula or Pennularia 
as they slowly near each other. Anon they 
touch at some point, and how suddenly they 
come together as though strongly attracted each 
to the other ! Mark that long chain of quadrate 
striated spores, resembling the workmanship of 
a bracelet. A curious activity will be noticed 
among those golden-green links ; they break 
up, and, turning to the right or left, corner 
touches corner for a few moments, and then 
they part company, each to become the centre 
of a new generation. 

" Here is seen a beautiful fan-shaped palm 
tree, golden and crystal leaved, whose foliage 
quivers for a moment and then breaks into a 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 87 

shower of jewels. Here are necklaces of rare 
brilliancy, and rings, brooches, and pendants, 
crosses and crescents, and all the forms that 
angles can make, beautified with crystal lines 
and set with all manner of precious stones. 
Truly here is an exhibition of the wonderful 
and beautiful that might hold enraptured an 
angel's vision, and certainly is enough to excite 
every devout mind to warmest praise and 
thanksgiving. 

" But beauty and wonder are not alone en- 
throned over diatomacean life. The hand that 
everywhere arrays Nature in glory and beauty 
drops with equal liberality the treasures of in- 
finite goodness. When our admiration is suf- 
ficiently satiated to allow any material research, 
the little diatom will be found to subserve a 
very important purpose in the economy of Na- 
ture. In almost all forms of vegetable life silica 
is an absolute essential of growth ; especially is 
this true in the grasses, grains, and all endoge- 
nous trees, on which man's life is so largely de- 
pendent. These orders of vegetation obtain 
the material for their outer covering from this 
mineral. But we find the silica massive in the 
hardest of rocks, quartz, and in many of the 



88 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. . 

precious gems. In these conditions it would 
be useless to vegetation, and even when disin- 
tegrated by the wash and wear of the elements, 
it would be in a form so gross that it could not 
be assimilated by the plants, hungry for its 
nourishment. The tiny diatom, the largest of 
which does not exceed the fifty-thousandth part 
of an inch, takes the intractable element and 
manipulates it into such infinitesimal atoms that 
the hungry mouths of the woody pores can 
devour it with avidity, and from the abundant 
supply weave the glassy robes which Nature 
demands for their adorning. In this light we 
can trace the wisdom and goodness manifested 
in the formation and wide diffusion of the dia- 
toms. The little jelly-like atom inhabiting one 
of these silicious frustules is but one of Jeho- 
vah's benevolent workers employed in filling 
up the grand storehouses of eternal goodness. 
Working obscurely beneath the surface of pond 
and brook, quite out of sight of those most 
largely benefited by their service, yet they are 
as much under divine guidance, and subserve as 
clearly the plans of Heaven's benevolence, as do 
the greater forces and activities which come 
constantly and impressively under notice. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 89 

" From a study like this we may obtain new 
and profounder conceptions of the Divine Super- 
intendent? He watches the falling of a spar- 
row and numbers the hairs of our heads ; but 
these are things coming within the scope of our 
observation. In fashioning the form and direct- 
ing the life-purpose of the tiny diatom we have 
another and striking instance of God's care and 
supervision. How much nearer it seems to bring 
the Infinite One ! and we can feel with a sweeter 
sensibility the upholding of the 'everlasting 
arms/ The all-gracious One who built and 
adorned the stony tenement of the insignificant 
diatom not only numbers the hairs and watches 
over the safety of this 'our earthly house/ but 
prepares a grander mansion, a 'house made 
without hands, eternal in the heavens/ for the 
indwelling of his saints when the earthly one 
is dissolved. And thus the study of the living 
jewelry of the pond has led us to the portals 
of the pearly gates, from whence we can obtain 
glimpses of the golden streets and jasper sea, 
and the glory of him whom the blood-washed 
and white-robed are praising day and night for 
ever and ever. 

" I have intimated that I have thus far only 

8* 



90 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

touched the lower rounds of the glorious ladder 
which we are attempting to climb, and I deem it 
but just, at this stage, to give you an opportu- 
nity to indicate whether my efforts to assist 
you have been so successful as to inspire you 
to a further following. If I have failed in my 
intentions, I do not wish to force upon you any 
further guidance, and these formal interviews 
may come to a close." 

To this intimation Rudolph promptly an- 
swered : 

" Speaking for myself, doctor, I can truly say 
that I have been deeply interested in the sub- 
jects investigated, and I trust also not alto- 
gether indifferent to the higher moral lessons 
inculcated. I shall cheerfully give all the time 
and attention which you may require to com- 
plete the course you have marked out." 

" Thank you," was the cordial response of 
the instructor ; " and how is it with your friend ? 
Delving into the secrets of a slimy frog-pond 
may not be quite as interesting nor as exciting 
as climbing mountains to seek a companionship 
with grizzly bears and herds of buffaloes." 

" Well, doctor," replied Davidson, " I begin 
to think that I am a little bearish in my nature, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 9 1 

or have the thick skull of a bison, or you would 
not have found it necessary to spend so much 
valuable time and attention upon so poor a sub- 
ject; and if you are willing to bestow so much 
consideration upon one so little deserving, I 
shall gratefully avail myself of your generous 
instructions. ,, 

" Be assured, my young friends," was the re- 
sponse, "it will be no unwilling labor to con- 
tinue these interviews, but a pleasure rather. 
In our- next conversation, then, we will take 
another look at the treasures of divine skill 
found in the unseemly storehouse from which 
we have already drawn so many wonderful and 
beautiful things. I continue searching the tur- 
bid waters of the repulsive pond, in order that 
you may be duly impressed with the fact that 
where the uninstructed see nothing but loath- 
some barrenness God often hides the amplest 
attestations of his creative skill. The celestial 
ladder was but a beautiful dream to Jacob until 
he awoke, but when his eyes were opened, then 
it was that he exclaimed, ' Surely the Lord 
was in this place!' God is all around us, in 
every place, in everything, yet we may be 
wholly unconscious of the glories of the divine 



92 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

presence if we are too sluggish to open our 
eyes, or too indifferent to search for the hidings 
of his glory and power. ' Man that is in honor, 
and understandeth not, is like the beasts that 
perish/ Certainly no one can be so dull as to 
mistake the moral of this expressive text." 

When the two young friends had taken their 
leave Minnie said, 

" Well, father, I begin to see indications that 
your labors will not be wholly fruitless, for you 
have evidently lowered by several degrees Mr. 
Davidson's good opinion of himself." 

" I think rather, my child," was the answer, 
" that Mr. Davidson's chief trouble has not been 
so much from an over-estimate of himself, as from 
a want of self-understanding, and I am encouraged 
with the hope that he will be led to a true real- 
ization of life and its grave responsibilities." 

" As for Mr. Rudolph," said Minnie, glancing 
at her more staid sister, " Ella is quite elated at 
his wonderful improvement ; why, he has really 
become one of her aids in an attempt to intro- 
duce a little of the light of civilization into the 
benighted regions of Blufftown, in which benev- 
olent work there can be no doubt of his being 
powerfully attracted to this good work." 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 93 

"I am sure," was the reply, "that the neg- 
lected children of Blufftown and its neighbor- 
hood need instruction, and I am glad to have 
the aid of one so competent to help me ; and I 
shall not be deterred from my purpose by any 
insinuations of my rattle-headed sister." 

" Good for you, Ella !" was Milton's response ; 
" you will find Lew a first-rate worker, and you 
need not stop to question closely the motives 
of his action, for whether he acts from love to 
the children or a liking for somebody nearer 
home, he will show his good sense, in my judg- 
ment." 

"Pshaw! brother," was the reply; "you and 
Minnie are both making ridiculous insinuations, 
and had better find some other topic to employ 
your thoughts." 

" True, my daughter," said the father ; " but I 
am glad that young Rudolph has become inter- 
ested in your work, for there is no surer nor 
speedier way to knowledge than the effort to 
impart wisdom unto others ; and if Mr. David- 
son could be induced to engage in a like enter- 
prise, it would be an addition to the moral forces 
by which it is hoped the desired result may be 
successfully reached." 



94 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

" In that work," said Ella, " the persuasive 
influence of sister Minnie might hope for suc- 
cess, for I am sure Mr. Davidson has been quite 
marked in his amiable attentions." 

"Thank you, sister mine," was the quick re- 
ply, " but whenever I may urge men to do a good 
act, I shall take good care that the motives shall 
be of a wholly disinterested character." 

"A truce, children, to your banter," inter- 
posed the father ; " a good deed may be none 
the less worthy because of any proper personal 
regard for those who may be associated in its 
performance. Often the most lasting and hap- 
py friendships and more intimate relations have 
been the outgrowth of co-operation in works of 
mercy and benevolence. Pupils trained in such 
schools are the most likely to bear the divine 
image and superscription of their alma mater, 
and to yield a ready and unswerving adhe- 
rence to her divine tutelage." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

A DROP OF WATER MARVELLOUSLY LLLU- 
MINATED. 

T N order to increase their interest in the les- 
J- sons which he was giving, Doctor Dean had 
requested his young pupils to make a visit to 
the pond and secure suitable specimens for ex- 
amination. He thought that this would not 
only afford the pleasure of co-operation and the 
excitement of a pleasant ramble, but would also 
assure them that no special preparation was 
made to secure exceptional examples for illus- 
trating the topic under consideration. They 
themselves would gather the wonders, all un- 
conscious of their existence until brought to 
their view by the manipulations of their in- 
structor. 

It is needless to say that the task imposed 
upon the young men was entered upon with 
pleasure ; and they, in fulfilling it, spent half a 

95 



96 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

day in a ramble about the pond and peat-bog 
with boxes and jars. They had quite a different 
conception of its aspects and surroundings from 
that cherished but a few days before, when they 
were floundering amid its mud and mire, all un- 
conscious of the treasures of minute life hidden 
in its sluggish waters. Inspired by the glimpses 
which they had so much enjoyed of the wonder- 
ful secrets already revealed, they cast many scru- 
tinizing glances into the jars filled with water in 
which were placed many tangled fronds of horn- 
wort and potamogeton, and tufts of duck-weed ; 
but by such a careless inspection no wonders 
were revealed. 

While thus engaged Rudolph could not re- 
sist the impulse to say to his companion, 

"Well, Charley, I must confess that I begin 
to feel quite an interest in our new enterprise ; 
and I am more than half persuaded that Doctor 
Dean is correct in his opinion, that the study of 
Nature is a task or a delight just in proportion 
as we pursue it with a worthy end in view, or 
seek to make it pander to some low aim. There 
is certainly a wide difference between filling a 
pocket with so many ounces of metal, and in- 
spiring a brain with useful knowledge ; between 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 97 

gratifying a passion, and giving noble impulses 
to the human heart. I think I begin to realize, 
in some proper sense, the true purpose for which 
the mind was bestowed upon man ; and hope I 
may be enabled to put what little I may possess 
to a better use hereafter." 

" Glad to hear it, chum," was the response; 
" but I have still to confess that my mental op- 
erations continue in a rather mixed-up condi- 
tion. To tell the truth, I am in a strait to deter- 
mine whether I am endowed with mind enough 
to make it worth while to pursue any definite 
purpose; nor can I now determine whether the 
little interest which I perchance feel arises mere- 
ly from the spice of novelty that I find in our 
present surroundings, or a slight quickening 
of the small modicum of brains I may really 
possess." 

" Oh, Charley !" exclaimed Rudolph, " I was 
hoping that you had quite recovered from the 
1 dolefuls/ but I fear that you are incorrigible. 
Do shake off this mental nightmare, and put 
your mind to a better purpose than grinding out 
such musty grists of misanthropy and false phil- 
osophy. There are too many beautiful things in 
Nature to enlist earnest study, and too many 



98 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

noble ends to be gained, to justify such despond- 
ency or waste of time and energies. 

* Tell me not, in mournful numbers, 

Life is but an empty dream ! 
For the soul is dead that slumbers, 
And things are not what they seem. 
* * * * 

* In the world's broad field of battle, 

In the bivouac of life, 
Be not like dumb, driven cattle, 
Be a hero in the strife !' 

Longfellow has put the ring of a true philoso- 
phy into these noble lines, and let us try and 
march to the rhythm of their music." 

" Ah, well, well, Lew," was the answer, " I 
will try and catch the step, but do not fall into 
1 quick-time ' too soon, or I may weary and drop 
out of line long before we reach the end of the 
march." 

" Do not be afraid, chum," replied his friend. 
" My progress will hardly exceed the pace of a 
' slow march,' and so there will be not much 
danger of our parting company during this 
campaign, unless you and Miss Minnie take a 
notion to make a trip to Gretna Green before 
vacation is over." 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 99 

" Well," said Davidson, " as there is about as 
much probability that Miss Minnie will become 
interested in my personal charms as there is 
that I shall ever be worth the serious thoughts 
of a sensible woman, you will probably enjoy 
my delightful companionship for a long time 
yet. But, as we have gathered a good supply 
of specimens, it would be better to adjourn this 
wise discussion. We can then report to the 
doctor the results of our expedition, and see 
what wonders of natural history we have un- 
consciously captured." 

At the appointed hour there was a prompt 
gathering for the promised lecture, when the 
specimens collected by the young men were 
presented and received with thanks. The doc- 
tor began his remarks by saying : 

44 1 judge from the appearance of your collec- 
tions that you have been fortunate in securing 
specimens well adapted to illustrate that round 
in Nature's beautiful ladder on which I wish to 
place our feet in this interview. 

" We have been lingering on the borders of 
a land filled with marvels of a minute world, 
but as yet we have inspected only a tithe of its 
curious forms of life. The lines of demarcation 



100 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

between animal and vegetable life have not yet 
been so clearly defined as to make them fixed 
and readily distinguishable. Diatom and des- 
mid have been alternately placed on either side, 
now exalted to the higher plane of animal ex- 
istence, and now degraded to the lower order 
of vegetation. And although the keener in- 
spection of modern science may have brought 
the question nearer to a settled conclusion, 
there is still enough to stimulate further inves- 
tigation. 

" As we have gazed, however, now wonder- 
ing whether the objects holding our attention" 
were plant or animal, other forms came into 
view, of whose character there could be no 
doubt : they were living creatures, as much so 
as the one gazing upon them. But how mi- 
nute, how strange, how active, and how incom- 
prehensibly numerous ! and all forming but the 
life-world of a single drop of water ! * O Lord, 
how wonderful are thy works !' Often in one 
drop of ditch-water will be found more than 
forty different forms of infusorial life, and these 
so multiplied as to be literally countless. Tiny 
as they are, each one has all the organs of a 
distinct animal life; and circumscribed as is 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 10 1 

their place of habitation, they have ample room 
for their amazing activities. Darting and dan- 
cing, rolling and crawling, a perfect maze of 
movement and motion, yet there is no clash 
nor collision as they pass their allotted exist- 
ence and fulfil the grand purpose of their Crea- 
tor. They feed and multiply, enjoy and die ; 
and, living or dying, work out the sovereign 
will and benevolent designs of Infinite Good- 
ness. Each is a wonder in itself, and all 
together form a picture of life that baffles the 
imagination. 

"The first impression coming to every one 
when the hidden life of a drop of water is first 
beheld is that of profound astonishment. It is 
entirely new and unexpected — a world of life 
where none was thought to have existence, and 
of forms and habits that have no parallels in 
the circle of visible natural history. It is so 
minute as to be put wholly beyond the limits 
of vision, and so numerous as to baffle compu- 
tation. As, when looking into a glass, we do 
not see our real self, but only an exact counter- 
feit presentment, so we see not the living infini- 
tesimal life here, but only an image magnified 
and remagnified until the perfect similitude is 

9* 



102 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

brought within range of our vision. Though 
by measure the distance is but a foot or less, 
yet looking down this long vista to catch a 
glimpse of the border-land of minute life, the 
sight is impressively grand. It is a sublime 
waymark of Jehovah's creative skill, yet it is 
only a fingerboard pointing on to still more 
remote regions. Multiplying the wonder-re- 
vealing powers of our instrument, and turning 
its penetrating inspection until its vision is 
wholly exhausted, still the climax of receding 
life has never been reached; there has ever 
been to the investigator a smaller still which 
baffles inspection, 'and there was the hiding of 
his power/ The beginnings of life will prob- 
ably ever lie hidden from human inspection. 
Like one who has followed its downward path- 
way farther perhaps, and with a closer inspec- 
tion, than any other man, we are compelled ' by 
an intellectual necessity to cross the boundary 
of experimental evidence,' and, by a faith to 
which he is an entire stranger, know that ' by 
him were all things created, that are in heaven, 
and that are in earth, visible and invisible,' and 
equally God-like whether hanging incompre- 
hensible worlds in empty space, or peopling a 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. IO3 

drop of water with millions of tiny inhabitants. 
The infinitely small has led us to the infinitely 
Great. We see not the life-mote which the all- 
wise One has fashioned and made to live, but 
we do most clearly and adoringly see, with the 
eye of our faith, him who is invisible, the only 
wise God, our Heavenly Father. 

"But, folding the wings of our imagination, 
and retracing our pathway until we have reach- 
ed the point at which the images of the invis- 
ible animalculae are brought within the range 
of vision, let us for a few moments give some 
of them a closer inspection. 

"The structural forms of the Infusoria are 
almost endless, and in their coloring they quite 
exhaust the tints of Nature's palette. The most 
common, and probably the most numerous, are 
known as monads. These animated atoms are 
little clots of jelly-like matter, with a single 
hairy filament as the organ of motion, and are 
of a great variety of shapes. In all shallow rain- 
pools and other still waters, during the warm 
months, they are so plentiful as often to tinge 
the entire accumulation. How numerous they 
may become can be understood when it is 
known that in a single drop, only one-tenth 



104 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

of an inch in diameter, there are often literally 
millions. How active they are, swimming, feed- 
ing, multiplying, and dying! Yet a drop of 
water gives abundance of room for the full play 
of all their activities. A million of these tiny 
creatures could be arrayed like a regiment of 
soldiers on a parade, yet the line would not 
more than stretch across the period put at the 
end of a sentence in a quarto Bible. 

" Call the pond a scene of dead stagnant 
water. Multiply, if you can, the monads in- 
habiting it, watch their ceaseless activity and 
endless multiplying, and then contrast the sum- 
total with the races of men and their history; 
and, if we judge by the relation of numbers 
and mutations, do all human chronicles furnish 
a fitting parallel ? 

" Turn now to another shallow pool. Its water 
has a pale milky tinge. A drop of this is put 
under our lens, and what a sight dazzles the eyes ! 
There are thousands on thousands of curiously- 
shaped creatures in a shining, silver-like livery, 
covered with vibrating filaments, darting, whirl- 
ing, oscillating, and rolling across the field of 
view. These uniquely-shaped and ornamented 
creatures are called by the learned Paramecium 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. I OS 

aurelia. They form one of the most interesting 
families of Infusoria. 

" But there is little disposition to be minute 
or special in description when so filled with 
wonder and admiration. The more we gaze, 
the more are we thrilled with amazement at 
the marvels of the divine handiwork, though 
the field of observation be but an insignificant 
drop of ditch-water. What a multiplication of 
strange and beautiful living organisms, any one 
of which might hold the attention for hours, 
and yet leave the 'eyes not satisfied with see- 
ing'! 

" These marvellous creations may not be the 
beginnings of life, but they are the first that 
come within the range of our scrutiny, and that 
put our feet fairly on the living ladder that leads 
up to him who is The Life both as a source and 
a gift. And what is the one thrilling sensation 
and question? Is it skill with a grand pur- 
pose? or creation without an end? If a drop 
of ditch-water is filled with such an infinitude 
of curious and beautiful existences, to what will 
the ascending scale lead us ? If the foot of 
the ladder rests on such a marvellous founda- 
tion, on what a pinnacle of glory will the top- 



I06 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

most round find its culmination ! When the 
most minute and closely-hidden life is so re- 
splendent, what an indescribable revelation must 
dazzle when we shall reach the summit where 
God puts the crowding glory on the work of 
his hands ! In our attempts to follow this ra- 
diant leading heavenward we must take one 
more step before we can leave the wonder- 
treasures of our drop of water. Our present 
advance, however, cannot fail to inspire our 
hearts with adoring homage to him 

' To whom an atom is an ample field.' " 

When Doctor Dean had finished his lecture, 
the young people were left for a while to enjoy 
themselves in a social way, when Miss Minnie, 
addressing Mr. Davidson, said, 

" I suppose you are getting rather wearied 
with father's dabbling so long in trying to search 
out the mysteries of a frog-pond ?" 
. " No, indeed," was the response ; " I am very 
much interested in your father's conversation. 
The facts which he has brought to pur attention 
are in quite a new field, and the use he has made 
of them very impressive." 

" The animals," said Minnie, rather quizzically, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 107 

" to which he has introduced us are not quite so 
dangerous as the denizens of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, on whom, I believe, you have had thoughts 
of bestowing your special attentions." 

"And bear-\y thoughts they were, I admit," 
responded the young man, " which I hope your 
father may succeed in fishing out of my muddy 
brains, unless, as is most probable, he shall find 
the infusion of sense so minute as to defy even 
microscopic detection." 

" Why, Mr. Davidson," exclaimed Ella, "you 
are real naughty to say so, when God has so 
highly blest you with the means and capacity 
for acquiring knowledge ; and so, as a just pun- 
ishment for your heinous offence, I shall sen- 
tence you to row us across the lake to-morrow, 
where we have a call of duty to a sick and suf- 
fering family ; and the only mitigation to your 
punishment is, that Mr. Rudolph may be one of 
the party if he feels so disposed." 

"Thanks, Miss Dean," replied the young 
man; "I shall surely be on hand, lest, being 
alone in such an association, the sentence should 
fail to have its moral effect on my friend. The 
fact is, Miss Dean," he continued, " I have been 
trying my best to recover my friend from a ter- 



108 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

rible fit of the ' blues,' but have so far most sig- 
nally failed; and if you can do anything to 
assist in his recovery, it will be quite as much 
a work of mercy as any distress which you 
may alleviate by your proposed visit across the 
lake." 

" Yes, that will doubtless be true," interposed 
Minnie, " if in crossing you can in some way 
contrive to get Mr. Davidson overboard and soak 
the color out of him, and thus convert the waters 
into a blue-bag, and thereby save the poor wash- 
erwomen many a dime for bluing." 

" Many thanks," replied Davidson, good-hu- 
moredly, " for your kind consideration ; but 
your benevolence takes the wrong direction ; so 
I shall hardly consent to aid you in carrying it 
out, unless, perchance, you may need yourself 
to be fished out of the water before we get 
across." 

4< You are very kind," was the prompt re- 
sponse; "but in any such unfortunate contin- 
gency I should prefer to take my chances rather 
than to be dyed blue in my rescue." 

"Ah, well, then," was the answer, "a truce 
to our disagreement, and I will pledge myself 
to wear the brightest face possible, and give the 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, IO9 

most cheerful service, if such sacrifices will ren- 
der my poor company useful and agreeable." 

"Bravo! keep at him, Miss Minnie," ex- 
claimed Rudolph ; " why, there are marked 
signs of improvement, and half of the indigo 
is gone out of his countenance already." 

This remark indicated that matters were now 
becoming rather too personal, as it brought a 
flush to Minnie's face and stopped the apt an- 
swer that was just on her tongue. The more 
staid sister perceived this, and, to relieve her 
indiscreet sister's embarrassment, she said, 

" Well, then, promptly at nine o'clock to- 
morrow we shall be at the shore, and see what 
can be done to ke^p up the spirit of improve- 
ment ; and if relieving those who are truly 
objects of charity can do anything to awaken 
the soul to noble impulses and impart true hap- 
piness, I am quite sure that we shall not fail in 
our experiences to-morrow." 

10 



CHAPTER IX. 

A VISIT TO THE WIDOW AND THE FATHER- 
LESS. 

T T must not be inferred that Ella Dean was 
-*■ acting with unmaidenly boldness when she 
invited the young students to row her across 
the lake, as she was conforming to the ex- 
pressed wishes of her father. Knowing that 
all instruction which leaves the heart untouch- 
ed will fail of any good results, he desired 
to use such agencies as would be likely to 
rouse the dormant sensibilities of his pupils. 
From his conversations with them he inferred 
that much of the difficulty, especially in the 
case of Davidson, was owing to the possession 
of highly-sensitive natures which had been left, 
from want of proper direction, to grow morbid. 
The result of such a course would be a great 
misconception of life and its possibilities. To 
arrest this morbid tendency by giving a truer 

impulsion to thoughts and energies, Doctor 
no 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. Ill 

Dean suggested the plan which his daughter 
was aiding to carry out. The visit would be 
likely to accomplish the desired object, as the 
case would present a strong appeal to their sym- 
pathies. The widow Farley had been called to 
drink to the very dregs the cup of affliction. 
The family had originally resided in the vicin- 
ity of Boston, where they had enjoyed an easy 
competence, with the advantages of education 
and society furnished by that highly-refined 
city. In one of the frequently occurring finan- 
cial disasters the Farleys suddenly found them- 
selves almost penniless. Unwilling to remain 
where they would be so constantly reminded of 
their changed condition in society, they sought a 
new home in a more retired location. Circum- 
stances directed their steps into the neighbor- 
hood of the Deans. With little remaining after 
reaching the end of their journey, they found 
a shelter in a log cabin on the borders of the 
lake around which Doctor Dean had so often 
loitered and studied. A scanty living was eked 
out by such odd jobs as could be obtained, but 
their main dependence was on the earnings of 
the eldest daughter as a teacher, a position for 
which she was particularly well qualified. But 



112 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

the storm of disaster followed them to their 
new home. While engaged one night in spear- 
ing fish on the lake the husband was thrown 
from the boat and drowned. Mrs. Farley was 
thus left almost alone to battle with the world. 
She had little physical ability to bear even its 
ordinary burdens, but now was left with two 
children wholly dependent upon the united ex- 
ertions of herself and her elder daughter, the 
latter being the main reliance. But, alas ! this 
help was soon to be taken away and leave them 
to almost total want. From over-exertion and 
exposure the daughter, who possessed but a frail 
constitution at best, was prostrated by an attack 
of sickness severe and protracted. Though life 
was spared, yet from want of careful attention 
and suitable nourishment she was left an almost 
helpless invalid. A spinal affection made it im- 
possible to walk, and confined her to her bed, 
with the occasional relief of being propped up 
in a chair with pillows. In most instances such 
multiplied afflictions would have produced a 
hopeless despondency, and the poorhouse would 
have been the refuge of the attending helpless- 
ness ; but in the case of Mrs. Farley and her 
daughter an unshaken faith in the promise that 



THE BE A UTIFUL LADDER. 1 1 3 

" all things work together for good to them who 
love God " kept them from sinking in despair 
and stimulated their energies and hopes. Their 
sore afflictions had indeed quickened the kind 
sympathies of their neighbors, who had gener- 
ously responded to their wants, but no bitter 
complaining nor urgent importunity had been 
used by the patient sufferers to elicit attention 
and relief. Indeed, the cheerful resignation ex- 
hibited by the sufferers, especially by the daugh- 
ter, was so remarkable as to arrest the attention 
of every visitor, leading most of them to feel, 
as they left their humble abode, that they car- 
ried away more than they had brought. Those 
who came with food and clothing for the body 
often went away with their souls nourished with 
celestial food. 

Alice Farley, unable to engage in any active 
household duties, yet feeling the necessity of 
doing something that would add to the scanty 
resources of the family, spent her time in such 
fancy and needlework as she could obtain. But 
with her best endeavors she could only add a 
small sum to the weekly stock. She was re- 
markably intelligent, and her conversation, en- 
riched by her discipline of suffering, had become 

10* H 



114 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

a strong attraction for the Deans. Their visits 
were always made with the expectation of being 
enriched by the opportunity, leaving them debt- 
ors rather than benefactors. Hence, Doctor 
Dean thought that an introduction to such a 
scene could not fail to awaken better impulses 
in the hearts of his young friends ; the sequel 
will show how well founded his impressions 
were. 

The special occasion which prompted this vis- 
it was the intelligence that Mrs. Farley had been 
afflicted by the loss of her cow ; and, as this 
animal had been her main dependence, it was 
thought necessary to afford such relief as would 
keep the family from actual suffering until proper 
measures could be taken to repair the loss. 

With this introduction to the Farleys the 
reader will be prepared to accompany the young 
folks on their visit. Promptly at the appointed 
hour the party was gathered on the shore, ready 
to cross the lake, which was about half a mile in 
width at the point of crossing. Milton had a 
basket well filled with provisions and groceries, 
while each of the girls carried small bundles 
that were to meet some need in the scant ward- 
robe of the Farleys. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 115 

When the young visitors saw these provisions 
to help the needy, their own empty-handedness 
became painfully apparent, causing no little cha- 
grin, and leading Rudolph to remark in an un- 
dertone to his friend, 

"Why, Charley, they'll think us either very 
stupid or miserly not to have brought something 
with us for the family we are about to visit. 
I'm afraid that the girls will form but a poor 
opinion of our generosity, unless you can make 
some suggestion that will help us out of the 
scrape." 

" That can be easily done, Lew," was the an- 
swer, " if we find there is a fitting occasion for a 
display of our generosity. I suppose we can 
raise a dime or two between us, and you know 
money is always in place. But I'm sure that I 
shall make no display of liberality just to appear 
well in the eyes of the girls." 

"Thanks for your suggestion," replied Ru- 
dolph. " I care as little as you do as to what 
two soft-hearted girls may think of our do- 
ings ; but I do not wish any one to believe that 
I am sordid and mean, for I do not own up to 
such traits of character." 

"Well," answered Davidson, "as I hardly 



1 16 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

know what kind of a character I am myself, I 
cannot justly call in question any judgment 
which others may form of me, and so must 
leave events to shape themselves, hoping that 
at last I may come out something less terrible 
than a monster of meanness. But now let us 
see to getting the girls into the boat, lest they 
think us boors as well as stingy; and may a 
kind Providence speed our voyage !" 

The morning was a brigljC and balmy one, 
and when all were safely seated in the boat — 
a neat four-oared one belonging to Milton — 
Davidson, who was one of the skilled oarsmen 
of his college, took one pair of oars and Milton 
the other, and they were soon speeding their 
way across the water. With some gentle slopes 
which skirted the distance beyond the lake and 
peat-bog, and the thick clumps of spruce and 
larch decked in the richest green, the landscape 
was not without special attractions. To these 
points of scenic beauty Milton called the atten- 
tion of his friends, that they might not go away 
w r ith the impression that his home-surroundings 
were wholly destitute of the picturesque. 

" You will see," said he, addressing his visit- 
ors, " that our little lakelet and the quiet ham- 




The Beautiful Ladder. 



Page 116. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 117 

lets on its borders are not so gloomy and un- 
attractive, after all, if looked at from a proper 
point of view and with the mist of prejudice 
no longer before the eyes." 

" I much fear, brother," interposed the viva- 
cious Minnie, " that Mr. Davidson has been so 
greatly exercised over the spoiled gloss of his 
clothes, that he fails to appreciate the brightness 
of our native landscape, and that he will go 
away denouncing it as the ( Slough of Despond ' 
in spite of all our laudations ; but I give him 
fair warning that I shall repay any unfavorable 
comments on its natural attractions by a plain 
statement of the cause of the averment." 

" A truce, then, Miss Minnie," said the young 
man pleasantly, " and I will accept your terms 
of amnesty ; so, no slander spoken, no secrets 
revealed." 

u That, of course," interposed Rudolph, " in- 
cludes all parties in the transaction, and so I 
may consider myself as safe under the terms 
of the treaty." 

" Well," was the reply, " as we are on a mis- 
sion of mercy to-day, I suppose you will have 
to receive favor under the conditions named ; 
but let it be distinctly understood that all future 



Il8 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

disparagement is precluded under peril of most 
condign punishment. If young men will tum- 
ble into ditches and frog-ponds at night, they 
must expect that there will be some question 
as to the cause." 

" Though we could invite the closest scrutiny 
as to the cause of our late mishap," Davidson 
replied, " yet we pledge an honorable conform- 
ity to the terms of our contract, and hereby 
commission Miss Ella to make prompt and true 
report of any failure to meet the conditions of 
our treaty. In case of any such violation, the 
the punishment will be that Miss Minnie Dean 
must sit on a tussock of grass in the middle 
of the muddiest bog on the lake, and sing alto 
to a concert of bullfrogs." 

"In w r hich case," was. the quick reply, "you 
can give me the keynote from the experience 
which you had the other night, when you both 
were taking so prominent a part in their vocal 
entertainment." 

Just then the boat touched the shore, and 
put an end to any further banter, and soon the 
whole party were on the way to the humble 
abode where their coming was to bring so 
timely and welcome relief to the suffering. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. II9 

The log shanty occupied by the widow was 
one of those primitive domiciles erected by the 
first settlers, to be vacated so soon as better 
homes could be provided. It was about twenty 
feet square, covered with wide slabs, with the 
usual stick-and-mud chimney, and stood at the 
edge of the woods, with three or four acres of 
cleared land around it. This ground showed 
no signs of recent cultivation, but served as a 
pasture for the cow of whose benefits the fam- 
ily had been so recently deprived. The only 
other signs of life around this poor abode were 
a few chickens busily engaged in a search after 
the scanty stores which Nature provides. The 
whole exterior showed that only extreme pov- 
erty could induce any one to inhabit such a 
dwelling-place; yet 

" It was the home — if that sweet name 
Be not profaned by place so drear" — 

of one of earth's angels, to whom it was now 
granted to receive visits of ministration rather 
than to make them. 

In response to a gentle rap the door was 
opened by a small lad who might well have 
sat for the picture of Whittier's ''Barefooted 



120 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

Boy," and the visitors were admitted to a scene 
that at once awakened sympathy. The pale 
and careworn mother was engaged in parching 
corn in a small skillet, the only provision for 
dinner which her meagre larder afforded. Re- 
clining on a rude lounge, with a face pale almost 
to transparency and form emaciated until there 
hardly seemed enough left to retain her feeble 
animation, Alice was doubly engaged in knit- 
ting and at the same time giving lessons to her 
brother and young sister. Without such pe- 
culiar surroundings she would at once have 
attracted attention from the most careless ob- 
server. Her features, though so spare by rea- 
son of long suffering and poor nourishment, 
were still of exquisite moulding, while her 
paleness made more brilliant a pair of black 
eyes that fairly seemed to dazzle. Her hair, 
black as the raven's plumes, and naturally wav- 
ing over her alabaster forehead, gave a fitting 
completeness to a beauty that seemed associ- 
ated with one so frail only to show how it could 
triumph over opposing forces. The effect on 
the young men was strongly marked. They 
had expected to witness a scene of poverty, 
where only sympathy with physical suffering 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 121 

would be called into exercise, but here they 
stood with a feeling of almost awe, as in the 
presence of one who could confer favors rather 
than receive them. The observant Ella saw 
all this as she introduced her associates to the 
mother and daughter. With no seeming em- 
barrassment, nor useless apologies for the poor 
reception given, they were cordially greeted, 
and seated as well as the scant furniture of the 
cabin would admit. The intelligent conversa- 
tion which at once commenced soon caused all 
thoughts of the poor surroundings to be for- 
gotten, and they seemed once more enjoying 
the pleasures of a select company in refined 
society. But the kind office on which they 
had come after a while broke the charm of 
social enjoyment, and Ella, with all possible 
delicacy, made such inquiries as were neces- 
sary as to Mrs. Farley's needs. 

" Many thanks to you all," was the grateful 
response of the mother, "and to our gracious 
Heavenly Father who has not left us to suffer, 
for we have a little corn left, but as I have not 
been able to get it ground, I am parching some 
for our dinner, as you see." 

" Why, Mrs. Farley," inquired Ella, — " why 
11 



122 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

did you not let us know of your circumstances ? 
and we would have seen that you did not 
suffer." 

" Thank you, Miss Dean, but I and the chil- 
dren get along very well. Parched corn is very 
wholesome, but it is hardly suitable diet for 
poor Alice, who so much needs more nourish- 
ing food in her feeble health, and with such con- 
stant employment. ,, 

" Now, dear mother/' was the daughter's ten- 
der answer, " how can you say that, when I am 
stronger than you are, and am not so harassed 
with cares ? I am sure I have no cause to com- 
plain, but I am distressed to see my poor 
mother living on parched 0)01." 

" No, no, my child," was the affectionate re- 
ply, " I am doing very well ; but my heart aches 
for you, and I shall not allow this day to pass 
without obtaining something fit for my poor 
dear child to eat." 

To relieve this painful scene, though it so 
strikingly illustrated both the faith and the af- 
fection of mother and daughter, Ella said, 

" It gives us much pleasure, Mrs. Farley, to 
be able to supply both yourself and daughter 
with some additions to your comforts, for we 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 12$ 

have not come empty-handed. My brother 
has brought a basket which my mother has 
filled with such things as she thought you 
might most stand in need of, and sister and I 
have added a little to the stock more especially 
intended for Alice." 

" May the Lord bless your kind father and 
mother, and you too, for your kindness to us !" 
was the hearty benediction of the mother, ut- 
tered with tears of gratitude. As for Alice, 
her heart was full, and her eyes too, as she 
said, 

" We shall allow no false pride to restrain our 
gratitude for such welcome and timely tokens 
of kindness. We are in great need, and accept 
your gift as sent by our ever-gracious Father, 
who has thus shown that he heard our morning 
prayer, ' Give us this day our daily bread ;' and 
most surely he will keep his blessed promise to 
repay you a hundred-fold for your charity to 
his afflicted ones. May God's blessing make 
you as rich as your gifts have made us happy !" 

What were the feelings of the two young 
men as they witnessed this scene, to which 
they had added nothing but their silent pres- 
ence, we may not know, but that they were 



124 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

deeply moved was plain from the moisture that 
dimmed their eyes. After a few more words of 
kindness and encouragement, the visitors with- 
drew, leaving the happy recipients to enjoy the 
benefactions which a kind Providence had sent 
them in their time of need. 

To the young students the experience was a 
new and strange one — a revelation of life and 
of their own natures to which they had been 
utter strangers. With abundant means, not 
only to supply necessary wants, but also to in- 
dulge in coveted gratifications, yet they had 
been ungrateful and dissatisfied; but they had 
met those who were reduced to the lowest 
depths of poverty, bereaved and suffering, and 
who yet were devoutly thankful for a dinner 
of parched corn ! Their shelter was a log hut 
in which they would scarcely consent to stable 
their favorite horses, yet there they had found 
an altar of gratitude for such a shelter from 
the storm and tempest. No wonder that they 
left such a scene of devout trust wearing a 
sobered and thoughtful demeanor. They could 
come to but one of two conclusions — either that 
the Farleys were great fanatics, or that they 
themselves were profoundly ignorant and un- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. I 25 

grateful. When they had reached the boat to 
recross the lake, Davidson begged to be excused 
from thus returning, giving as. a reason that he 
wished to make a few sketches, and would walk 
home around the head of the lake in the evening. 

Before the day closed circumstances indi- 
cated the influence which had' been exerted 
over the minds of the two young men by the 
incidents just narrated, and which showed that 
new light and new impulses had been given to 
both. 

Davidson visited a neighboring farmer, of 
whom he made a purchase of one of his best 
cows, which he directed to be driven to the 
widow, with strict injunctions not to reveal the 
name of the person who sent it. To say that, 
after this kind act, he was the subject of a new 
class of emotions is but to credit him with the 
common feelings of humanity; but in justice 
to his kindly act it must be added that, as he 
thought of the gentle and suffering Alice, and 
in imagination saw the glow of gratitude and 
joy which would light up her pale countenance, 
he was conscious of a thrill of pleasure to 
which he had been an entire stranger. He was 

very happy, and felt that he was so because he 

11 * 



126 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

had made others partake of a kindred joy. 
For the first time he felt thankful for the wealth 
he possessed, and received a true conception of 
how he might use it in a proper manner. 

A liberal stock of provisions and groceries 
which were left at the widow's home that even- 
ing, with the information that a nameless friend 
had ordered them, showed that a similar pur- 
pose had been carried out by young Rudolph. 
Each had secretly formed his plans and carried 
them out, intending to keep the knowledge of 
the deed from the other and from the Deans. 
How successful they were, results must show. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE MARVELLOUS ILLUMINATION CON 
TINUED. 

T T 7HEN Milton Dean and his party returned 
* * from the widow's and reported the inci- 
dents of the day to his father, the doctor was 
not a little disappointed to learn that neither 
Davidson nor Rudolph had contributed any- 
thing to the relief of the distressed family. 
The impression made was a painful one, as it 
indicated a mistaken judgment as to the cha- 
racters of the young men. Instead of possess- 
ing highly sympathetic natures, it would seem 
that they were sadly wanting in the commonest 
sentiments of pity for the suffering. Putting 
all the circumstances together, his hopes of 
awakening them to a truer conception of the 
nobler inspirations of life were very much les- 
sened. Certainly, if they could look unmoved 
upon so peculiar a case of bereavement and 

127 



128 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

want, and then turn away without making the 
slightest effort to mitigate the burdens and 
sorrows of the afflicted, there could be little 
hope of success in any attempts to arouse such 
hearts to noble sensibility. But duty was duty ; 
and, though discouraged, he was not despairing. 
He would pursue the course he had marked, 
trusting that a divine blessing might yet make 
the effort a gratifying success. 

On the day following the visit of the young 
folks Mr. Dean himself went over the lake to 
the Farleys' to see what steps were necessary 
to supply their needs, especially in the case of 
the lost cow ; and his great surprise can well 
be imagined when he found a very fine animal 
already grazing near the widow's home, and the 
family rejoicing in an abundance of fresh milk. 
Nor was his surprise lessened when he further 
learned that the widow's larder had been re- 
plenished with a barrel of flour and a liberal 
supply of groceries. To his careful inquiries 
as to the kind friends who had thus so gene- 
rously attended to their needs, the happy family 
could only reply that some nameless friends had 
sent the things by the hands of some neighbors, 
but made it a condition that no efforts should 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 29 

be made to find out their benefactors. Putting 
all the facts which could be obtained together, 
it was not hard for the doctor to draw the in- 
ference as to who these benefactors were ; and 
the conviction brought a most agreeable reve- 
lation which quite removed the unfavorable 
impression made by the conduct of his young 
friends on the previous day. Indeed, the act 
was so exceptionally generous and delicate that 
it indicated the highest impulse of a sensitive 
nature, only needing the sanctifying influences 
of the Divine Spirit to make the generous actors 
in such a charity the truest benefactors of the 
world. Now that the latent springs of a truer 
life had been touched, a stronger hope was 
cherished that the way might be opened for 
these young pilgrims to the fountain of celestial 
wisdom and happiness. Praying for more faith 
and wisdom in his future efforts, Mr. Dean 
awaited, with an increased interest, the ap- 
pointed hour for the next interview. 

When gathered once more around the famil- 
iar table, before the regular lesson was begun, 
Doctor Dean said : 

" Yesterday I met with a circumstance which 
makes me have a higher admiration of true no- 

1 



130 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

bleness of character — one of those rare events 
which show that all hearts are not wholly 
given over to selfish and sordid impulses ; one 
that must have made the actors in so noble a 
transaction realize the truth of the Saviour's 
declaration, ' It is more blessed to give than it 
is to receive.' 

" I went over to visit Widow Farley and her 
family yesterday, to look after their wants and 
to make provision to supply the loss of their 
cow; and to my great surprise I found that 
some very generous hand had already antici- 
pated their needs by sending them one of the 
best animals from the stock of a neighboring 
farmer. Some other equally benevolent per- 
son had also made them happy by sending a 
barrel of flour and many other much-needed 
articles. The family were overflowing with 
happiness and gratitude ; and I am sure if the 
kind-hearted persons who were so liberal and 
timely in their charities could have seen the 
happy faces of the mother and afflicted daugh- 
ter, and heard the repeated and earnest bless- 
ings invoked upon their heads, they would 
have been more than doubly paid for their 
deeds of kindness. The thing was nobly done, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 131 

and the generous actors will not only have the 
thanks and gratitude of the happy recipients 
of their benefactions, but those of the entire 
community. It will be esteemed an honor to 
our neighborhood, as it is to the common bro- 
therhood of man." 

While Mr. Dean was making these remarks 
the flushed faces of the young men indicated 
the strong emotions of which they were the 
subjects, notwithstanding their evident attempts 
to appear self-possessed. Inquisitive glances 
were seen to pass from one to the other, as 
though each was trying to read in the other's 
face the facts which each was striving to keep 
in concealment. 

For several important reasons Doctor Dean 
did not hint to his young friends his suspicions 
of their connection with the noble generosity to 
the widow, only availing himself of the oppor- 
tunity of using the incident to give point to 
his moral lessons, which he did by saying : 

" We have been searching into the minute 
and wonderful creations of the all-wise One, 
and have found in the smallest and most insig- 
nificant atom of plant or animal life marvellous 
instances of beauty and special adaptations. 



132 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 

These things, or at least many of them, would 
be useless creations if there were no intelli- 
gences to search them out; and why go to 
these voiceless instructors if there are no great 
moral lessons to be drawn from them ? And 
in what can these tiny monitors instruct us if 
not to give us higher and clearer conceptions 
of the wisdom and goodness of God ? As we 
resume the thread of our investigations let us 
carry this thought with us, and we shall, I trusty 
find the advantage of it as we strive to reach a 
higher round in our beautiful ladder. 

" As we have not yet got our feet from the 
round hidden beneath the surface of our famil- 
iar pond, let me give some few reminiscences, 
which will explain why I have made it so pro- 
lific a theme. 

" My first studies with the microscope were 
pursued wholly without instruction, and with 
only an indefinite idea that a drop of water was 
often the dwelling-place of many curious forms 
of vegetable and animal life. As each new rev- 
elation was made of the tiny inhabitants of this 
minute world, all the joys of a new discovery 
were experienced, in addition to the excitement 
caused by the strange forms gazed upon. As 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 33 

all the specimens for quite a long period were 
taken from nearly the same spot, the number 
of species found was not very great, and was, 
of course, much influenced by the changes of 
the seasons. For some time the objects brought 
under the glass were different forms of confer- 
void algae, with a mixture of monads and Para- 
mecice. These, to my then inexperienced eye, 
were the most wonderful objects ever beheld. 
On one occasion, however, a little later in the 
season, happening to obtain my specimens from 
a warm, sunny shallow in which a small tuft of 
hay was submerged, a shock of surprise and 
delight was experienced. It was a first view 
of what may be regarded as the most exquis- 
itely formed and beautiful of all the Infusoria, 
the Amphileptus, Stentors, and Vorticellce. Many 
days and long evenings were delightfully spent 
in a never-tiring gaze at these beautiful objects 
— an indulgence that nearly cost the sight of a 
right eye, as for months afterward a black spot 
hung before the overstrained organ. No one 
who gets a true idea of the strange and beau- 
tiful forms of the Infusoria, in their intense 
activity, with their constant and magic changes 

of shapes and shades, can wonder that an eye 
12 



134 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER 

was perilled in beholding such a scene of en- 
chantment. From that day these animalculae 
have never ceased to be objects of delighted 
study, with their ever-impressive lesson of the 
wonders of Jehovah's handiwork. 

" I am fortunate in having a rich collection 
of these minute beauties to submit to your in- 
spection to-night. You can indulge in their 
examination as long as you please. In the 
wildest dreams of the imagination we could 
hardly picture creatures so strangely fashioned. 
Had the ancients been acquainted with the 
microscope, they would have had living mod- 
els for all the nondescript creatures with which 
they so liberally illustrated their mythology. 

" While the mind is thus wonder-wrought, 
who can help exclaiming, Truly, we do not 
have to search for, nor turn to, majestic sources 
to find that the ' works of God are great, sought 
out of all those who have pleasure therein ' ! 

" But we must not dally too long ; for, circum- 
scribed as the field of our observation is, it is 
too ample to admit of much delay or minute- 
ness. 

"Among the larger and more complex or- 
ganisms of the Infusoria, the Rotifers, Brachonice, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 135 

and Stentors attract first and most marked atten- 
tion. The peculiarity of these wonderful den- 
izens of the mysterious drop of water is the 
ciliated wheel which protrudes from the head, 
by means of which a graceful and rapid loco- 
motion is secured, and also the food is captured. 
Adorned with the brightest and ever-changing 
colors, restless and eccentric in their move- 
ments, they awaken an untiring interest. These 
strange forms of minute life abound in nearly 
all shallow deposits of water, delighting in the 
warm sunshine and rejoicing in the hidden life 
which their Creator has bestowed upon them. 
But, having introduced them to your notice, 
they will be left for your future and more care- 
ful inspection; yet let us not fail to read the 
grand moral lesson so broadly and legibly writ- 
ten on every drop of water and slimy frond 
found in the dismal pond wherein is placed the 
first round of the beautiful ladder which we are 
striving to ascend. 

" In our perusal of these unique pages much 
that is curious has been sought out, but never- 
theless we have only touched the borders of 
this mysterious world. From a clot of ani- 
mated jelly we have passed on through grow- 



I36 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

ing completeness of organization until the eyes 
were fascinated with marvellous forms of beauty. 
Conceive all these strangely-formed and bril- 
liantly-adorned creatures in full activity, wheels 
revolving, with the flash of crystal, gold, pur- 
ple, emerald, and azure, as they keep up the 
mazy dance of exuberant life, and it will be 
understood that no powers of description can 
do justice to the marvellous picture. But the 
eye that has ever looked upon it will never for- 
get the vivid impression. The beholder will be 
impelled to say of the bright vision that 

'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever/ 

"But we must now take our last lingering 
gaze at the youth-repelling pond. As the glance 
passes over its surface and dwells upon the dis- 
torted landscape, there is little or no change in 
its natural gloomy surroundings. The waters 
are as stagnant as ever, the bog as widespread 
and dank, and the rank growth of vegetation as 
tangled and decaying, as in years bygone. The 
hooting of the owls at night as discordantly 
mingles with the croak of flocks of wild geese 
and the piping of cranes, making the air clash 
with ear-piercing sounds. The batrachian cho- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 37 

rus is fuller and more sonorous than before, by 
the increase of many generations with lungs as 
powerful and as ardent a disposition to give 
them constant practice. Still, at times, the 
Will-o'-the-wisp leads forth his blazing cohorts 
of vagrant fire-flies, giving just enough illumi- 
nation to bush and brake to enable the untutor- 
ed imagination to people the whole scene with 
certain creatures who traditionally deal more 
extensively in igneous materials, and who shine 
only to delude their poor dupes to darker recesses 
than envelop the borders of the dismal pond. 

" But the weird spell of the external has been 
broken, and the veil of horror lifted from the 
scene. The invisible has become visible, and 
the glory and beauty of the revelation have 
spread such a radiance over the scene that the 
real is put out of view ; and, like the breaking 
of morning, though it is the same landscape 
that the dissolving darkness brings back to the 
natural vision, the black pall of shadows which 
filled it with horrid shapings has been dispelled 
by the bright beams of a celestial sunrising. 
Henceforth these gloom-covered scenes of earth 
will be transfigured to the disenthralled mind; 

and dark and repellant as the earthly surround- 
12* 



138 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

ings may be, the brightness of a celestial illu- 
mination will beautify all. For its jar and 
discord, sweet harmonies that swell from a 
heavenly keynote will delight the soul ; for 
not only does spiritualized Nature lift the 
scales from earth-dulled eyes, but it also quick- 
ens the sluggish ear to hear voices that breathe 
sweeter melodies than are warbled from human 
lips — anthems ever unheard by the grosser 
throng, however loudly the chorus may swell 
around them. 

" And now, with the foot just touching the 
first round above the surface, and turning from 
the unsightly pond, the picture which we carry 
with us is a gorgeous portraiture of heavenly skill. 
It will glow in memory in glorious contrast to the 
darkly-shaded one which hung in the chambers 
of youthful imagination, and which was drawn 
with such muddy pencillings when you were 
floundering in the slimy bog the other evening. 

" In closing a study like this our fitting song 
will be — 

' Let zealous praise ascend, 
And hymns of holy wonder, to the Power 
Whose wisdom shines as lovely on our minds 
As on our gladdened eyes the radiant sun.' " 



CHAPTER XI. 

AN OCEAN ROUND OF THE BEAUTIFUL 
LADDER. 

\li 7 HEN the young men were once more 

* * alone after the last interview at the 
Deans', the thought that was uppermost in the 
mind of each found expression as Rudolph 
said, 

" See here, Charley : did you send that cow 
to the widow ?" 

" Well," was the response, " I will be true to 
my Yankee blood, and answer you by asking, 
Did you send the flour and groceries to the 
same destination ?" 

"Give me your hand, old fellow!" replied 
Rudolph as he extended his to his friend. " I 
thought I had stolen the march upon you for 
once, but I own up clean beat both in plan and 
execution. It was most nobly done, chum ; 
and I am sure that the satisfaction of such an 

139 



I40 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

act is worth all the cares and disappointments 
of half a life." 

" And I am truly glad," responded Davidson, 
" that I have a friend so well worthy to share the 
happiness with me, for, I will frankly confess, 
the experience has given me a new and pecu- 
liar pleasure." 

"Why, how could it be otherwise?" said 
Rudolph with great earnestness. " I have 
vividly before my mind's eye the inmates of 
the w T retched hovel — the poor poverty-stricken 
mother parching the scanty dish of corn for the 
meagre dinner, and the hunger-pinched children 
anxiously waiting for the wretched repast to be 
served up ; and, more painfully distinct, the 
pale, sorrow-marked face of the suffering Alice 
is central in the picture, watching the prepa- 
ration of a dish so little suited to her delicate 
and craving appetite. The unexpected and 
liberal supply for all their immediate wants is 
brought to their door, and I see the faces of 
the entire group change almost to a radiant 
glow, while tears of gratitude fill their eyes. 
Truly, Charley, our poor gifts have made one 
family rich and happy. Perhaps, chum, if you 
have a chance to give away a few more cows, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 141 

you will lose your desire to go and live with 
the grizzlies." 

" And may God grant the speedy opportu- 
nities !" was the emphatic response of David- 
son, " for I feel just now as though I were truly 
converted from my social heresy, and I want to 
be established in the faith beyond all fear of 
backsliding. Doctor Dean's lessons have given 
me some new and, I believe, more correct ideas 
of the purposes of study, and the experiences 
of the other day open to view a pathway that 
will render life not altogether useless or unde- 
sirable." 

" That view of the case," said Rudolph, " is 
at least more manly and rational than to give 
up to despondency, or to play the fool or mad- 
man, as there was some danger of one or both 
of us doing. But it must not be supposed 
that every case of want or suffering will be 
surrounded with circumstances so specially fitted 
to awaken such deep sympathy. There will not 
often be, for instance, a kind of wingless angel, 
like Alice Farley, to make you feel that you 
are the deeper in debt the more you give." 

" Yes, that's so, Lew," was the reply; " and 
for that very reason I am determined to make 



142 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

the most of the present opportunity. I have 
the means, and instead of spending my surplus, 
as I had intended, in the purchase of a new 
pleasure-yacht, I will see to it that the widow 
and her family are placed in more comfortable 
circumstances ; and if the suffering Alice can 
be helped in body or mind by any human 
agency, the means shall not be wanting until 
my last dollar is gone." 

44 Spoken just like your better self, Charley !" 
was the hearty response of his friend ; " and I 
have but one suggestion of change to urge : 
you must not insist on taking all this charge 
upon yourself, but share the pleasure with me. 
True, I have not such means as you have, but 
I have enough to take a good share in the 
work. — And, by the by, do you think that 
Doctor Dean has any suspicion that we had a 
hand in helping the Farleys ?" 

44 1 am inclined to think that he has," was the 
reply ; 44 and am still more convinced that the 
girls know the facts from two awful puns which 
Miss Minnie perpetrated when I met her this 
evening. 4 Why, Mr. Davidson/ said she, 4 I 
understand that you were guilty of a most 
<f<?7t'-ardly act .the other day, and it is thought 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. I43 

you did it with m-Alice prepense.' Wasn't it 
awful ?" 

" ' Flat burglary, as ever was committed,' " 
was Rudolph's reply, " and proof positive that 
our secret is out; but that need not interfere 
with our plans. And perhaps, under the cir- 
cumstances, we had better drop all further at- 
tempts at concealment, and take Doctor Dean 
into our counsel, for I am sure that he can 
greatly aid us in carrying out successfully our 
plans." 

"Very well, then," replied Davidson; "at 
our next meeting we will do as you suggest; 
and no doubt the Deans will enter heartily into 
our enterprise. But we must use some expe- 
dition to get the thing well under way before 
we return to college." 

" That is so," said his friend ; " but you know 
that old Professor ' Snifty ' said, ' There is al- 
ways sufficient time to do a good deed, while 
eternity is none too long for a miser to tell 
over his excuses." 

"Well," responded Davidson, "I believe that 
is true, for it is but another form of putting 
the old adage, that * Where there is a will, 
there is a . way.' So let us have some gen- 



144 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

eral plan mapped out by the time we meet the 
doctor." 

" All right !" was the answer ; " and so good- 
night." 

It is hardly necessary to say that the thoughts 
of the two young friends were largely given to 
the subject of providing for the widow's family 
during the time which intervened until the next 
meeting at the parsonage — thoughts that lin- 
gered with a pleasure to which they had been 
strangers, and which, in marked degree, prepared 
their minds for the next topic of discussion. 

When again convened Doctor Dean began by 
saying : 

" Before we try further to ascend the ladder 
of the divine handiwork from the foot resting 
on the ' dry land,' we must trace 'his footsteps 
in the sea,' for even there, amid its whirl of 
waters, we shall ' see the works of the Lord, 
and his wonders in the deep.' 

" From the first sight of the ocean up to the 
day when a careful inspection of its waters with 
the microscope was begun, it has been the 
grandest image mirrored on the soul — sublime 
in its sweep over two thirds of the globe, un- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 145 

curbed save by the hand of Omnipotence, and 
incomparably grand and beautiful in calm or 
storm. But its shores could be measured and 
bounded, its depths fathomed, its uttermost sur- 
face cut with keel and rudder, and all of its 
huge monsters captured by the skill and daring 
of man. It is mighty in space, power, and pur- 
pose ; but it is not infinite, and therefore entirely 
within the scope of man's contemplation. A 
fitting ' image of eternity, the throne of the In- 
visible/ yet from the first sight of this 

1 Glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form 
Glasses itself in tempest, 

* I have loved thee, Ocean ! and my joy 
Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be 

Borne, like thy bubbles, onward; from a boy 
I have wantoned with thy breakers; they to me 

Were a delight.' 

" How singular that a single drop from the 

unmeasurable waters of the great deep should 

break the spell of sublimity by suggesting the 

infinite, when the grandeur of the whole had 

failed to bring this torturing thought to the 

soul ! It was not the contrast between the tiny 

drop and the measureless fountain whence it was 

taken, but the marvellous life which that drop 
13 K 



I46 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

contained, and the attempt to compare the mil- 
lions of animated creatures which it revealed 
with the sum-total of all the life of the sea. 
In attempting the computation, hundreds of 
leagues of the ocean's surface were found tinged 
with various shades by the billions on billions 
of living things which swarmed in every square 
foot of its waters. The monsters of the deep 
grow fat and spread out their vast proportions 
while fed by these creatures, which fill the vast 
expanse of the ocean to repletion, and all over 
its broad surface flash in living flames in every 
billow that breaks in storm or curls from the 
prow of the dashing bark. Before the attempt 
to compute the sum of life that fills the ocean 
was fairly begun numbers failed, and the pain- 
ful sense of the infinite came back. Since that 
time, when pacing the ocean-strand, the mind 
has been compelled to individualize, in order to 
escape the painful sense of the incomprehensi- 
ble. On one occasion the timely appearance 
of a shoal of porpoises was hailed as a relief 
to the overstrained thoughts, for they could be 
counted, and in the effort to fix their number 
the mind found a resting-place. 

" It is no small consolation to one who finds 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 47 

that he vainly attempts to fix the aggregated 
life of the sea, that it furnishes a delightful 
study in the multitude of its orders, all rich in 
everything that can challenge inspection and 
excite enthusiasm and admiration. 

" That mind must be peculiarly stolid which 
is not awed into reverence when the grand old 
ocean is first beheld ; for certainly its vastness, 
its sublimity in calm or tempest, its curbless 
power, its profound depths, and its wondrous 
orders of life, all testify emphatically of the 
Infinite One. It might well be supposed that 
one would sooner be deaf to its mighty surf- 
beats than fail to behold him ' whose way is in 
the sea and his path in the great waters/ i The 
waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee ; 
they were afraid : the depths also were trou- 
bled/ And can there be one so insensate as 
to stand upon the shore of the awe-struck, 
trembling ocean, unheeding of the Divine Pres- 
ence that ever broods on the face of the deep ? 
The heart of such a one must be as hollow and 
as lifeless as one of the tenantless shells that the 
feet of its owner will spurn as he idly and irrev- 
erently walks the ocean-shore. 

"To a devout mind the first strong impulse 



148 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

on reaching the mighty deep is to kneel with the 
ceaseless throng of wave-worshippers that bow 
their hoary heads, as they touch the strand, in 
one unbroken circle of devotion. The tongue 
takes the keynote of its unceasing anthem of 
praise, and joins the grand choral of the 

* Never-slumbering sea ! 
Impassioned orator with lips sublime, 
Whose waves are arguments which prove a God.' 

" Arising from this devout association of 
worship, the eyes will be unsealed and the soul 
quickened to behold and enjoy the marvellous 
things, ' both great and small beasts,' with which 
Jehovah has crowded the waves of the sea and 
peopled its deepest chambers. 

" In this illuminated and reverential spirit let 
us aim to ' see the works of the Lord and his 
wonders in the deep.' 

" We will not stop to measure the ponderous 
leviathan, nor wonder at his uncouth gambols ; 
the most stolid clown is moved by such a 
sight, and there is a dilation of wonder in his 
dull eyes. Nor need those sea-wonders obvious 
to the most careless observation delay us ; let us 
rather pass on to richer investigations. The 




BEAUTIES OF SUB-MARINE LIFE. 



Page 149. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 49 

true riches of the sea, like God's works every- 
where, must be ' sought out of all them that 
have pleasure therein/ 

11 The glory and beauty of God's works are 
not dependent on massiveness of structure. 
The minute Serpula puts the whale into the 
shade, and the Spirobus outvies the dreaded 
devil-fish. And herein is a hint that may be 
followed. We are searching for the wonderful 
and the beautiful, and, having found so much to 
fill our cravings in a drop of water taken from 
a pond, whose surface and surroundings were 
so repellant, the drop shall be the initial in 
commencing a study of ocean-wonders. Dark, 
dread, and full of monsters that have no peers, 
the ocean is a picture too grand for comprehen- 
sion or enjoyment; but a drop from its vast 
waves will not stagger our imagination. There- 
fore let us turn to it for a solace and an inspira- 
tion. 

" It has long been known to the geologist 
that chalk-hills, beds of marble and marl, and 
even masses of flint and bog-iron ore, are com- 
posed largely of minute shells more or less 
perfect in form, and fashioned after the most 

beautiful patterns. Along the shores of the 
13* 



ISO THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

great sea and in its shallow waters similar relics 
of a past life are found ; but in the profounder 
chambers of the great waters, and amid the 
dash of its mid-ocean waves, no such treasures 
of creative skill were once supposed to exist. 
Indeed, it was argued, with great show of logic, 
that such was the pressure of the water, when 
of great depth, that all life would be crushed out, 
and even the hardest shell broken into frag- 
ments. The dropping of Brooke's deep-sea lead 
through seven miles of water, until it touched 
the bottom of mid-ocean, dispelled all of these 
learned arguments, just as did the landing of a 
steamer from Liverpool at New York the posi- 
tive assertion which Dr. Lardner had just before 
made, that the thing could never be done. 

" It is now well known that if the beds de- 
posited in the deepest ocean should become 
indurated, they would present much the same 
conditions as the fossiliferous formations already- 
mentioned, which are, without question, the re- 
sult of deposition in deep waters. 

" But beautiful as are these untenanted pearl 
habitations, and marvellous as they are in num- 
ber, they are wholly surpassed by their living 
posterity, which have come down to us with all 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 15 I 

the glories of their ancestors undimmed. The 
bottom of the ocean is everywhere populous, 
in depths and shallows, with forms of exquisite 
structure and adornment. Turning to the wave- 
swept surface of the ocean, an equal array of 
life and beauty attests the richness and skill of 
Jehovah's works. 

" Major S. R. J. Owen, while dredging the 
surface of mid-ocean in different localities, often 
found his nets clogged by minute silicious shells 
of rich patterns and colors, which have been 
designated as Polycystina, a family of exquisite 
beauty. Add to this picture of the animated 
waves the fact already referred to, that hun- 
dreds of leagues of the sea are so filled with 
tiny creatures that the waters are tinged with 
red or green. But this exhibition of creative 
power will not be complete without noticing 
the phosphorescent corruscations of the un- 
countable billions of Noctiluca which people all 
the realm of the sea. They are nearly color- 
less, and so minute that when undisturbed the 
little ocean-illuminator is unnoticed, holding his 
living flame in reserve, but at the stroke of an 
oar or the dash of a vessel's prow the flash 
of every tiny torch sets the ocean in a glow. 



152 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

Tell now their numbers and describe their 
beauty, if it be possible. Surely any one who 
shall make the vain attempt will never again 
ask the question, 

1 Is not God upon the waters, 
As well as on the land ?' 

" An attempted grouping of the beautiful 
wonders of the great deep staggers the imagi- 
nation as the growing sense of infinity creeps 
over the mind. Whale and shark, porpoise and 
dolphin, have engrossed the common mind and 
served to represent the wonders of the sea, but 
only their grossness gives them claims to such 
marked consideration. Not so with the living 
jewels of the deep that lie beyond the ken of 
common observation, but which flash with as- 
tonishing brilliancy on the eye that lovingly 
seeks to pry into hidden mysteries. How as- 
tonished is such a searcher, as he inspects the 
softest piece of Turkish sponge, to find it a 
complete armory of swords, spears, crosses, and 
diamonds, rivalling the richest collection of an- 
cient crown-jewels and knightly equipments ! 
And then as he pauses to inspect Asterias, Ser- 
pulce y Actinice, and a thousand as brilliant com- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 53 

peers, surely the might and majesty of the 
storm-heaved ocean will henceforth bear no 
more strikingly the impress of the Almighty 
One than will the beautiful testimony of these 
tiny creatures. 

11 When the microscope is laid aside, and the 
attention is turned to the life of the sea which 
lies within the scope of the common vision, a 
new scene is entered upon, boundless in extent, 
and, like the hidden marvels of the deep, sur- 
passing all description. 

" To get a vivid impression of the marvellous 
richness of this vast treasury of infinite wisdom 
it needs not that the whole range of objects 
should come under contemplation, nor even will 
it be necessary to give more than a cursory 
glance at the orders least known to the com- 
mon observer. So filled is the great sea with 
the wonders of Jehovah's skill, that a glimpse 
at a few will leave no lingering doubt as to the 
origin of the whole. From the least to the 
greatest, be it tiniest mite or hugest monster, 
their emphatic testimony is, ' He who formed 
the sea and the dry land shaped us by his skill 
and bade us live for his glory.' It was upon 
the face of the great deep that the Spirit of the 



154 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

Highest first moved to bring order and beau- 
ty into a world that was until then given up 
to darkness, waste, and desolation; and sure- 
ly where that supreme power has been longest 
potent there should be some of the most strik- 
ing evidences of its workings. 

"To the careless observer the ocean seems 
to have no special waymarks of Jehovah's skill, 
save the bars and doors which restrain its out- 
breakings. To such its waters are a wild waste, 
and its bottom, cumbered with wrecks and des- 
olation, the cemetery of unnumbered millions 
who have sunk there, 

* With bubbling groan, 
Without a grave, unknelled, unconfined, and unknown.' 

The beautiful lessons already deduced from its 
watery records will sufficiently indicate the sad 
mistake of such careless loiterers by the sea- 
side, and the additional pages of its life-history 
which are now about to be turned will probably 
make our ocean-study still more impressive. 

" The grand life-mysteries of the deep are, 
indeed, as yet only partially developed, but 
enough have been yielded up to earnest search- 
ers after its secrets to excite our wonder and de- 
light. Begin where we may, and whether it 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 55 

be to search its vegetation or its animal life, 
the discoveries we shall make will abundantly 
reward the searcher. 

" The range of ocean-vegetation is immensely 
great, both as to extent of species and com- 
parative size, in the latter regard extending, from 
the most minute microscopic spores that cleave 
to its rocks and beds, to the mighty fucus, often 
three or four hundred feet in length. These 
aquatic plants are as varied in shape and color- 
ing as they are in extent. The ocean-gardens 
make up for the absence of flowers by a greater 
delicacy of stem, by feathery branches, and by 
a richness of tinting that is unsurpassed among 
the more favored flora that live in the glow of 
the sunshine. Those who have ever dipped 
these vegetable beauties from the sea-tides have 
enjoyed a rare sight. Many a home on the 
shore, where taste has found a votary, is adorn- 
ed with marine bouquets, perfect gems of rich- 
ness, made up of sea-moss, sea-silk, and other 
brilliant productions from the gardens of the 
ocean. 

" When one has roamed long enough through 
these aqueous groves, then the endless paths 
of the coral continents will open invitingly be- 



156 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

fore him. In this journeying, valleys of living 
flowers, pinnacles, and mountains, almost gem- 
like in their preciousness, will await explora- 
tion; gorgeous halls and domes hold the en- 
raptured gaze; and, oftentimes, vast acres of 
formations so precious as to be greedily sought 
as among the richest treasures of human wealth 
— living gems when in their ocean-beds, and 
gemming the living when plucked by the hand 
of man. The little lapidaries that fashion these 
gems of the sea are often as beautiful as their 
precious workmanship, tinting the waters of the 
ocean with their delicate coloring, or making 
them flash and radiate with phosphorescent 
light. And now tell me, O dullard and doubt- 
er! has the sea ho life nor voice to speak for 
God ? Hides the deep no handiwork of Jeho- 
vah, and do its billows intone no anthem to 
his praise ? 

" For exhibiting man's power through the 
few thousand years of his existence some great 
cities are instanced, and the wasted grandeur 
of others is pointed out. Vain man ! the lit- 
tle jelly-like toilers of the sea could cover up 
all your boasted monuments ; hide your pigmy 
cities, so that their sites could not be searched 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 57 

out, and yet have material enough to cover a 
multitude more of vaster proportions than any 
yet erected by the combined skill of the nations. 
There is no more astonishing result of living 
agencies than that which is furnished by the 
coral formations of the ocean ; and what a clear 
and forcible illustration it gives of the assertion 
of the divine word, that i God hath chosen the 
weak things of the world to confound the things 
which are mighty'! There are no monuments 
of persevering labor that can compare in skill 
and extent with the coral formations of the sea. 
They dam up its sweeping tides, fill the ocean 
with islands, and even continents, and re-map 
the surface of the globe. It is as though the 
hand of Jehovah were erecting new ' bars and 
doors/ in order to show his omnipotence to 
the puny nations who have dared to boast of 
the insignificant ocean-barriers which they have 
succeeded in constructing. When, however, we 
search for the mighty hand that so easily does all 
this, we behold only a little insignificant worm, 
in substance little more than an animated clot 
of jelly. In itself how weak, how minute! but 
when its generations are considered, how past 
comprehension ! and their industry how unsur- 

14 



158 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

passed ! Whence these ocean-builders get their 
vast amount of materials, and how deftly they 
work them up, are equal marvels to the higher 
race of boasters, who have to delve for their 
poor pittances of wood and stone, and build 
them into homes with so much toil and such a 
taxing of skill. 

" But in trying to make such comparisons, 
the sense of the infinite comes back, and to 
relieve the mental strain the shore must be re- 
visited, where some one of its thousands of 
wonders can be picked up for inspection and 
admiration ; and thus the heart will once more 
be calmed into devout serenity. 

" Few who have paced the ocean-strands 
but have been arrested by the curious jelly-like, 
crystal masses so often met with, and not un- 
frequently elegantly fluted and frilled with rib- 
bon-like tentacles. When stranded and dead 
they are rather repulsive objects, but watch the 
incoming waves, and the pains will be likely to 
be rewarded by a view of a living specimen of 
the jelly-fish, beautiful in shape and brilliantly 
iridescent, blending all the colors of the rain- 
bow, and changing with every motion of the 
wave and glance of the sunbeam. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 1 59 

"These frail voyagers are often found of 
immense size, sometimes weighing even tons. 
They seem to possess bodies of quite a sub- 
stantial character, but it is only seeming; for 
if left to decay in the sun, the largest will leave 
scarcely an ounce of earthy remains ; they are, 
in fact, little more than organized water. In 
many parts of the southern seas these Medusa 
are met with in vast fleets when the surface is 
calm and warm ; but, extended as they may 
be, they seem to act by a common impulse, 
for, let but a chance cloud obscure the sun or 
a rough gust disturb the water, and the whole 
multitude vanishes in a moment. Beautiful and 
frail as they seem, if their graceful tentacles are 
meddled with, they have power severely to re- 
sent the affront by filling the hand of the dis- 
turber with a multitude of sharp stings that 
greatly irritate and inflame the flesh. From 
this propensity they have received the very ap- 
propriate name of sea-nettles. How wonder- 
fully God provides the frailest of his creatures 
with weapons which make the strongest stand 
in wholesome fear of them ! 

" One of the most dainty sea-navigators is 
the delicate little Cydippe, but, being so minute 



l6o THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

and shy, the careless observer is never rewarded 
by a sight of its beauty. It is about the size 
of a common marble ; but to get a conception 
of its elegance there must be before the mind a 
globe of purest Bohemian glass, blending crys- 
tal and colors of the rarest brilliancy. To com- 
plete the splendor of its adornments it has two 
long and delicate filaments tasselled to the very 
tips. But, beware ! attenuated as these append- 
ages are, they have the stings of the larger 
members of their race, and know as well how 
to use them, as the fishermen often find when 
they have to clear their nets of the thousands 
which sometimes entangle them. 

" Kindred to the last named, but larger and 
more elaborate in a mass of thread-like tenta- 
cles, are the Physophora, Pray a, and several 
other beautiful members of the Physalia, but 
they must be passed without more special men- 
tion. They are wonders of very delicate con- 
struction, peculiar in habits, and will well repay 
a careful examination. 

" Few objects on slight inspection seem less 
interesting than a piece of dull, lifeless sponge, 
but when its curious history is sought out, Na- 
ture has few greater marvels. It is the depopu- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. l6l 

lated city of millions of tiny and strange inhab- 
itants. Found alive and bedded in its native 
sea-bottom, the Spongia is one of the great 
wonders of ocean-life. Soft as the texture of 
the prepared sponge seems to be, it is neverthe- 
less made up of two very hard substances — sil- 
ica and another closely resembling the horns of 
animals. The spicules of silica are marvels of 
shape and sharpness, and it is a wonder how 
they can exist in a substance so soft and flex- 
ible. Look carefully at a sponge, and it is 
found perforated with countless pores, every 
one of which was the home-dwelling of a liv- 
ing polyp, whose life-throbs made the spongy 
mass one enchanting scene of living fountains. 
Professor Grant, who paid special attention to 
the habits of this denizen of the sea, says : 
4 The beauty and novelty of such a scene in 
the animal kingdom arrested my attention, 
until I was obliged to withdraw my eye from 
fatigue.' And no wonder, for the gaze, once 
fixed upon such a phenomenon, feels the spell 
of an enchantment from which alone exhaus- 
tion of the power of the optic nerve could 
bring disenthralment. 

11 On the attractive claims of the sea-stars 

14* L 



1 62 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

many ample pages might be written and not ex- 
haust the subject, and here but a small space can 
be devoted to them. Most of those who have 
visited the shores have had glimpses of some 
members of this family, though generally the 
most common and least interesting, the brown 
five-rayed star-fish, to which special description 
need not be given. The near resemblance of 
some of these sea-beauties to the china-asters 
and lilies of the garden has won for them the 
names of sea-asters and stone-lilies, and their 
beauty is such that it is no presumption to 
hold comparison with these favorite flowers. 

" And this mention of floral resemblance 
leads to the notice of another family of the 
sea flora, the Actinia. Of these elegant objects 
the Arborescent and Alcyonoidce are perhaps most 
striking. Conceive of two richly-striped or 
mottled vases, out of which branch and bloom 
a multitude of living floral stalks, now ex- 
panded in full glory, and now, on the least 
disturbance, retracted and securely hidden in 
the elegant basal receptacle ! 

" But why longer continue this descriptive 
catalogue of the wonderful and beautiful in the 
gardens and palaces of the sea ? Visit the 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 63 

shore when we may, and search the most se- 
cret chambers of the deep, or scan any drop 
of its measureless waters, and everywhere the 
testimony is explicit to the perfections of divine 
skill. If, when one is roaming through the 
walks of a well-kept garden, he should ask, 
'Is there a gardener?' no reply would be giv- 
en, but rather a look at the questioner to see 
whether he were sane or in earnest. And shall 
we tarry longer by the ocean-shore to argue the 
question whether it has works and ways that re- 
veal the ever-abiding presence of a God ? The 
waves would mock us for the folly of casting 
their pearls before such swine, and the dissolv- 
ing jelly-fish, stranded on the beach, might boast 
more brains than one stupid enough to engage 
in such a controversy. Nay, nay; the great 
ocean-shore shall rather be our altar, the cease- 
less ebb and flow of its waves the expressive 
symbol of our devotion, and the music of its 
swells the echo of our unceasing hymns of 
praise. 

1 The gentleness of heaven is on the sea. 
Listen ! the mighty being is awake, 
And doth with his eternal motion make 
A sound like thunder everlastingly!' " 



CHAPTER XII. 

INTIMATIONS OF EDEN. 

r I "*HE two young friends had become so 
-*• deeply interested in the lessons of the 
sea that they felt little inclined to disturb their 
kind teacher or divert their own minds by dis- 
cussing any plans to relieve the widow, and so 
they passed to their boarding-house with the 
matter deferred. Their conversation by the 
way, however, indicated that favorable results 
had been obtained. 

" Lew/' said Davidson, " I begin to get a 
clearer conception of the true purposes of 
knowledge. If material good and vain ambition 
are the only motives, of course the results must 
be delusive and unsatisfactory; certainly, they 
are not worth the time and toil necessary to 
secure them. But when the chief end of 
knowledge is to give to man a higher con- 
ception of his origin, pow T ers, and destiny, by 
opening to his mind the divine purpose in his 

164 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 65 

creation, this is worth the labor and cost of 
the investigation." 

" Well said !" was his friend's answer. " I 
think you not only i begin to get clearer con- 
ceptions,' but have made great progress, and 
have got fairly out of the mists of your old 
hypochondriac philosophy. I begin to fear that 
your only drawback will be the necessity of 
trying to convert such a heretic as I must now 
confess myself to be, made so, mostly, by the 
cogency of your own reasoning; for, truly, 
Charley, many of your arguments were so 
strongly put that I could find no reasons for 
rebuttal, and so have accepted them as demon- 
strations." 

" Well, Lew," was the reply, " if that is so, 
I am sorry ; for it shows that you have far less 
wit than I gave you credit for. But, to put it 
in a more favorable light, it may be considered 
but another instance, going to show how much 
more ready the heart of man is to receive the 
silly ravings of some half lunatic than the 
soundest teachings of true philosophy." 

" Thank you kindly," rejoined Rudolph, "for 
your excellent excuse for my recent conversion 
to your own faith ; but, nevertheless, the facts 



1 66 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

are as I have given them, so there is a chance 
for Doctor Dean to make a second convert; 
which I devoutly hope he may do before I be- 
come hardened beyond all redemption." 

" Amen to that !" said Davidson, "and to the 
wish that we may both become wiser and better 
men." 

With this interchange of views the young 
men separated for the night. 

At the appointed time the usual company 
was again assembled, when Davidson opened 
the interview by saying, 

" We suppose, Doctor Dean, from some slight 
hints which have come to our ears, that you 
suspect our connection with some aid rendered 
to the suffering family across the lake, and that, 
therefore, it is useless to attempt further con- 
cealment. If this be so, we would like to talk 
to you about some other steps which we con- 
template taking in the same direction. And 
we do this as the most effectual way of keeping 
any similar transactions a profound secret from 
the recipients of our favors." 

"True, Mr. Davidson," was the doctor's an- 
swer, "we had suspected that you were the 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 67 

generous benefactors of the distressed family; 
but we respected your evident wishes, and our 
suspicions have been kept in the family. I be- 
lieve that no one outside of our family has as 
yet got scent of the right track." 

" We are glad to hear that," said Rudolph, 
" but we are more especially anxious that the 
Farleys should be kept in entire ignorance. 
Are you certain that they have no hint of our 
connection with the affair ?" 

u Certainly I can answer for that," said Mil- 
ton, " for I was at their house to-day, and they 
were entirely at a loss to conceive who had so 
generously remembered them ; they have an 
idea that some of their old friends in the East, 
who had known them in their better days, had 
sought thus to help them in their deep distress." 

(< We are highly gratified at this information," 
said Davidson, " and can now more freely open 
our hearts and purposes, but only on the sol- 
emn pledge of profoundest secrecy, especially 
enjoining that the objects of our aid shall never 
know to whom they are indebted." 

"A pledge," said Doctor Dean, "which we 
most cheerfully give, and which I am sure will 
be sacredly kept by every member of my family." 



1 68 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

"And you may be sure," interposed the 
sprightly Minnie, "that in doing so papa as- 
sumes a very grave responsibility, for, as all the 
neighborhood can testify, my tongue is very 
unruly and runs at both ends ; and generally, 
when I am trying to carefully guard one end, 
the other lets the secret out." 

" We shall have no fears," was the compli- 
mentary reply of Rudolph. " When the pledge 
of honor is given we are sure that the tongues 
of this family will be kept under perfect con- 
trol." 

" Well," was the bantering reply, " you are 
marvels of credulity, and I hope that nothing 
will occur to shake such extraordinary faith in 
woman's ability to keep a secret." 

" I will give bonds," said the father as he 
smiled at the raillery of his daughter, " that 
your matters will be safe hidden if they are 
never made known until my daughter shall 
make them a subject of gossip." 

" We have no fears of Miss Minnie," was the 
response of both the young men, u and ask no 
security for the safe-keeping of our secret by 
her." 

" But now to business," continued Davidson. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 69 

" The matter that we just now wish to accom- 
plish is to get the widow into more comfortable 
quarters before the winter sets in ; and to help 
in part in this good work we have a thousand 
dollars which we wish to put into your hands 
to be used at your discretion in securing the 
desired end. We can do a little more if it 
should be absolutely necessary.'' 

The young men could not fail to see the 
surprise and delight which this announcement 
caused, it was so unexpected and exceptionally 
generous. 

" Let it be understood, Doctor Dean," said 
Rudolph, " that I contribute but two hundred 
of the sum which will be put into your hands." 

" And let it also be understood," quickly re- 
joined his friend, " that in so doing you have 
made a greater sacrifice than I have, and so 
the credit-balance for benevolence is on your 
side." 

"As the matter stands," interposed Doctor 
Dean, " I think there need be no discussion of 
comparative credits, for both have been so 
generous as to challenge the highest meed of 
praise. 

" But now about fulfilling your benevolent 

15 



I70 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

trust, a work which I undertake with the great- 
est pleasure. The matter which you have so 
kindly anticipated had occupied my mind more 
or less for weeks. A better home the poor 
family must have before the setting in of cold 
weather. I have had more than one inspection 
of a neat little cottage about half a mile east of 
the village. There is a comfortable house and 
about half a dozen acres of good land, ample 
for the widow's cow and garden. The price 
has been fifteen hundred dollars, but as the 
owner is a generous man, one of my most lib- 
eral members, one who has always taken a deep 
interest in the Farleys, I think that he will take 
much less, for the cash in hand, if purchased 
for the widow. Any balance which may be 
required above your generous donation I can 
easily raise. As a formal visit to the property 
might attract attention, and thereby lead to a 
revelation of your secret, my son will take you 
where you can get a view of the premises ; and 
should you be pleased with the location, the 
purchase can be made with little delay." 

" If you mean the little brown cottage just 
beyond the rustic bridge,'' said Rudolph, "we 
can give our approval now." 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 171 

" That is the place I mean," replied the doc- 
tor ; " and so that matter is settled. And now 
we will turn to our lesson. The circumstances 
which have detained us will" furnish inspiration 
for the theme which we shall discuss; for we 
have had a little relish of the moral beauty of 
the original Eden, which will give us clearer 
vision to see in Nature some intimations of 
its pristine beauty. 

1 ' It is the natural order, stamped upon every- 
thing by Creative Wisdom, that the lower should 
minister to the higher, the material to the spir- 
itual. When man was created the first want 
to be supplied was physical nourishment, and 
hence the Great Provider said, ' Behold, I have 
given you every herb bearing seed, which is 
upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, 
in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ; 
to you it shall be for meat/ But the man nour- 
ished on this food was of the earth, earthy, and 
would be again resolved into dust, the substance 
from which he was taken, at once his tabernacle 
and his tomb. But the dissolving body was 
merely the dwelling-place of the soul, a God- 
like inbreathing that could be satisfied with no 
earthly pabulum ; it must have angels' food — a 



172 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

diet that would stimulate a spiritual nature and 
awaken emotions of devotion and love. What- 
ever of order and adornment the earth may 
have ' possessed before man's advent, they were 
not in a plane high enough to meet the cravings 
of his celestial quickening. The soul being of 
heavenly origin, something of its beauty and 
perfection was necessary to fill its spiritual long- 
ings; and it is hardly to be questioned that, 
in making provision for this supreme need, 
Jehovah took his pattern from 'the heavenly 
things/ and thus gave to the earth a similitude 
of celestial surroundings when he 'planted a 
garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the 
man whom he had formed/ His environment 
was ' every tree that is pleasant to the sight/ and 
' the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, 
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.' 
When the Great Teacher blessed the earth with 
his presence, in order to bring man back to the 
lost Paradise one of his first lessons was to 
reimpress the moral sanctities of Eden : ' Con- 
sider the lilies of the field, how they grow / and, 
making his teaching impressive, he contrasts 
this one glory of the field with the grandest 
of all human splendors : ' I say unto you, that 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 73 

even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
like one of these/ 

" There is sublimity in a forest, and beauty in 
every leaf trembling in its contiguity of shade, 
but whatever of richness the primitive fields 
and unkept flowers of earth might have pos- 
sessed, there was lacking a fitting ministry for 
man's moral nature until God retouched with a 
finer pencil and a diviner skill, and grouped the 
scattered glories of his hand within the gates 
of Paradise, and thus brought them under the 
enraptured gaze of Adam. Ever since that 
bright creation the truly quickened soul, above 
and clearer than the array of garden-splendors 
that charm and delight the senses, can discern 
the * Lord God walking in the garden,' sanctify- 
ing its walks and receiving the incense of its 
blooming. 

" The difference between field or forest and 
a garden consists in the careful supervision ap- 
parent in the latter, wherein the wild disorder 
of the former is controlled, and by a tasteful 
grouping of plants and flowers richer effects of 
floral splendors are produced. In this way, un- 
der the hand of man, the garden has become 
the richest embodiment of earthly beauty. As 



174 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

a whole, it is without competition, and even a 
few cut sprays and stray blossoms are worthy 
tokens of love, and are held as most acceptable 
expressions of affection. What, then, must 
have been the wonderful perfection and super- 
lative beauty of Eden as it first stood, fresh and 
complete from the hand of the Infinite One ! 
Who can measure the fulness of the blessing 
conferred on Adam when God put him ' into 
the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it ' ? 
So glorious was the place that the divine pres- 
ence seemed to linger in its delightful shades ; 
for the ' voice of the Lord God walking in the 
garden in the cool of the day ' was heard, hold- 
ing converse with the happy possessors of that 
bright abode. From that day to this a truly 
quickened soul can catch something of the 
same divine accents when meditating where 
flowers bloom and leaves murmur their soft 
cadences of praise. True, the site of the Heav- 
en-planted Eden has been hidden from human 
observation, and the visible presence and aud- 
ible voice of Jehovah are no longer recognized 
amid borders and bloom ; but to a heart at all 
spiritualized such surroundings will ever bring 
thoughts of the lost Paradise and a sense of 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 75 

the ever-abiding presence of the Lord God, 
whose power and skill alone could create such 
embodiments of wonder and glory. It is, no 
doubt, for this reason that a garden has been 
the sweetest solace in all ages to men of high- 
est wisdom and sensibility. Though Solomon 
dwelt in a palace of ivory, and sat upon a throne 
of gold, and was surrounded by splendor, yet his 
heart longed for something fresher, purer — for 
something more glorious than could be fash- 
ioned by the skill of artisan and lapidary ; and 
he turned to commune with Nature in a gar- 
den. He made ' gardens and orchards, and 
planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits/ 
In these employments he obtained a fresher 
blood and a purer inspiration than amid the 
flash and dazzle of golden courts and jewelled 
thrones and the obsequiousness and flattery of 
courtiers. The ambitious exile of St. Helena 
found a solace for his crownless head and hum- 
bled heart with hoe and rake among the flower- 
beds surrounding his island-prison. 

" Kingly cares and blighted ambition have 
not alone found refuge and solace in floral 
communings, but good and holy men have 
equally shared in the benedictions of the gar- 



176 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

den. It has eased their overtaxed brains and 
hearts, and brought back something of rejuve- 
nation to mind and body when years have 
made the grasshopper a burden, and desire 
has failed, and all the daughters of music are 
brought low. Thus it was with Doctors Ide 
and Barnes, so long and well known in Phila- 
delphia for their great learning and severe men- 
tal labors. When mental relaxation was need- 
ed they sought reinvigoration in the delights 
of horticulture, and in the sweet employment 
seemed to catch a new vitality. 

" Not the least of the sad consequences of 
Adam's trangression is the inherited tendency 
to mental and moral long-sightedness, an over- 
looking of the wonders of creation which are 
scattered all around us, under the mistaken idea 
that the Creator was too stinted in resources to 
lavish on the world more than * seven wonders/ 
and which, to be impartial, he must widely scat- 
ter. That spot of earth does not exist where 
God has not left some evidence of his skill, 
which can be overlooked only by the dull or 
careless. It would justly be supposed, how- 
ever, that, of all the beautiful places on earth, 
the one which has received the special adorning 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 77 

of Jehovah's hand would furnish the clearest 
evidences of celestial handiwork. What glory 
and beauty were enshrined in the Eden plant- 
ed by the divine hand we may not imagine, 
but doubtless enough of its pristine splendors 
and perfections still remains on earth to indicate 
their character. From dulness of perception 
the Eden-like beauties of garden and green- 
house may pass unnoticed, but they are none 
the less present and fragrant with celestial 
odors. Let us not be so insensible, but pause 
a moment, before plucking a rose or a lily, to 
study the marvellous process of growth which 
has brought them to the perfection which so 
excites our admiration. 

"A small black seed is dropped into the 
dull, moistened earth, and there, perchance, it 
remains through many months of winter and 
frosts, and, to all appearance, possesses no more 
vitality than the sluggish clods which cover 
it. The spring comes with its warm sunshine 
and rains, and now behold a quickening in the 
sleeping germ ; and anon two little leaflets peep 
from the soil. The stock grows and leaves ex- 
pand, but nothing as yet appears to distinguish 
it from the great sisterhood of plants ; it is green 

M 



178 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

and luxuriant, and so are they. All vegetable 
growth is wonderful. It feeds mostly on air, 
sucking in the subtle carbonic acid gas, and by 
a curious alchemy building up forest and field. 
Like everything having life, its vitality comes 
from above through the genial rays of the great 
generous sun ; and the outspread leaves of the 
grove and forest, like suppliant hands, set us 
the devout example that we should look up- 
ward to that realm from whence cometh every 
good and perfect gift. 

" But turn again to the growing flower-stalk. 
On each spray-tip a green bulb has formed, as 
though Nature had but two pigments, brown 
and green, from which to draw its tintings. 
Do not be impatient ; Nature draws her riches 
from no stinted resources, nor hastens to scatter 
her sweetness ; her work is perfect, and will 
reach its climax in due time. Behold again ! 
Those swelling buds have expanded into a 
glorious coronal of flowers, as though to re- 
buke the imputation that would limit the Holy 
One. Look at a garden thus dressed and 
adorned by the Infinite Hand. What glory, 
what variety, what gorgeous pencilling and 
splashing of dyes ! Whence all this ? The 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 79 

same dull earth gives root-hold to all, and the 
same air bathes leaf and blossom. From what 
wonderful alembic is all this magnificence of 
coloring drawn ? and by what marvellous path- 
ways do these brilliant and strongly-contrasted 
dyes creep through these earth-soiled roots and 
brown stems to dazzle and blaze so wonder- 
ously? It is as though the Great Artist of 
Nature had buried a rainbow at the foot of 
each shrub and plant, and bid it crown with a 
halo of blossoms the plant which should grow 
above its earthly hiding ; and each one spring- 
ing thence seems to strive for the mastery in 
the distribution and arrangement of its treasury 
of colors. How gloriously the contest has been 
carried on ! and still the prize awaits a victor. 

" Is there any wonder surpassing the gran- 
deur of a rich garden ? or beauty that can out- 
rival the splendors that dazzle and daze when 
perfection of growth has put the crown of 
floral glory on its beds and borders ? 

" Standing thus near the borders of Paradise 

regained, greeted by its fragrance and feasting 

upon its heaven-born arrayal, shall we begin to 

.botanize, to distil stalk and flower, extract juipe 

and aroma, to medicate the body and titillate 



180 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

the senses? This may be done without pro- 
fanity, but not now. When the higher lessons 
and purposes of the precious gift of flowers are 
understood, then it may be safe and proper to 
materialize them; but build the altar first, and 
worship the God who planted the first garden, 
and when man had forfeited his claim to the 
gracious boon, still, in his abundant mercy, left 
it possible for him to bring back intimations of 
the original Eden, where he might enjoy a sense 
of the divine presence. When the soul has 
been thus lifted upward and fed on celestial 
fruit, then, and not till then, erect the labor- 
atory and extract the virtues of bark and 
petals, appropriate balm and spicery, and let 
the eye linger and the appetite feast on the 
dainties, which are but the crumbs of the spir- 
itual banqueting. 

" Those who are so much of the earth earthy 
as to fail of this spiritual discernment deserve, 
as much as did Adam, to be sent forth from the 
sacred precincts of a garden, banned against 
a re-entrance, lest they should again profane the 
sacred enclosure. These insensates are well de- 
serving the fate imposed upon the original 
offender : ' In the sweat of thy face shalt thou 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. l8l 

eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for 
out of it wast thou taken/ Such grovellers 
always carry the scent of the earth with them, 
and can never get its dust sufficiently out of 
their eyes to see the natural beauty of their 
surroundings, much less to apprehend the di- 
vine radiance that makes a garden a gateway 
to the celestial Paradise. 

• Bright and glorious is that revelation, 

Written all over this great world of ours ; 
Making evident our own creation 

In these stars of earth, these golden flowers.' " 

Knowing the antipathy of his young friends 
to any questioning about personal religion, Doc- 
tor Dean had carefully avoided such appeals, 
hoping in the sequel to gain his point through 
the moral force of his teachings. The events of 
the last few days, however, had led him to con- 
clude that a more direct step might be taken in 
that direction without harm. With this pur- 
pose, after the conclusion of his regular con- 
versation, he asked the young men if it would 
be disagreeable for them to remain until after 
the family devotions ; and being assured that it 
would not, the usual preparations were made 

16 



1 82 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

for the delightful service. Miss Ella took her 
place at the parlor-organ, and, after running 
over some sweet chords as a prelude, tenderly 
started off with u Almost Persuaded ;" and as 
the whole family joined with their well-trained 
and harmonized voices, the effect was deep and 
impressive. After this the eighth chapter of 
Second Corinthians was read with some com- 
ments, showing that the extreme poverty which 
calls forth our deepest sympathy and promptest 
relief is nothing compared with the spiritual 
poverty that involves the entire race of Adam. 
To relieve the poverty of our suffering neigh- 
bors costs us but the sacrifice of a small por- 
tion of our earthly goods, but to take us out 
of our miserable estate made large demands on 
both the grace and treasures of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. To those who accept the proffered 
goodness he makes a transfer of his infinite 
riches. Strange that any human being should 
ever hesitate for a moment in accepting so di- 
vine and dearly-bought a treasure ! 

In the prayer that followed it was fervently 
urged that the joy which had lately been expe- 
rienced in relieving extreme poverty might bring 
to all a clearer apprehension of the marvellous 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 83 

grace of God — the only one entitled to be called 
Good, because he alone is ever doing matchless 
deeds of grace. " We give but a few dollars, 
but he gave his only-begotten Son. We see 
the extreme poverty of our neighbors, and find 
ourselves more blest in the giving than they are 
in the receiving. We are disposed to say that 
we i are rich, and increased with goods, and have 
need of nothing/ and know not that we are 
'wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, 
and naked/ Teach us to know our poverty, 
and where true relief can only be found. " 

The occasion was a solemn one, and the 
prayer was urged with all earnestness and unc- 
tion. At its conclusion nothing was said be- 
yond a hearty " good-night " as the parting 
grasp was given. 

The young friends walked home in silence, 
each pondering over his own thoughts, but we 
are not yet deep enough into their secrets to 
set forth their meditations, and must leave 
events to unravel the mystery. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
GREAT MORAL LESSONS FROM INSECTS. 

\\ 7HEN again convened in the familiar 
* * library-room at the parsonage, Doctor 
Dean said, addressing his young friends : 

"It will no doubt be of interest to you to 
learn that the cottage has been secured for 
the Farleys. As I had supposed, the owner 
readily accepted twelve hundred dollars if pur- 
chased for the widow, and I found no difficulty 
in raising the other two hundred necessary to 
make up the amount. The papers will soon be 
drawn, and in the mean time several of our me- 
chanics have agreed to make some necessary 
repairs, while the kind ladies of the neighbor- 
hood are meeting with good success in an effort 
to give the house a plain furnishing before the 
family is moved into it. You have the satisfac- 
tion of knowing that your kindness to the poor 
has awakened a general feeling of liberality in 

184 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 85 

the neighborhood. It has been thought best 
to give no intimation to the family of what is 
being done until all things are ready to place 
them in possession of their new home ; but as 
you have been the most liberal donors in this 
movement, it has been thought only fitting and 
proper that we should ask your opinion on the 
subject, with the assurance that any suggestions 
which you may have to offer will be cheerfully 
accepted in the final arrangements. " 

"Thank you," was Davidson's answer; " ev- 
erything is as we would have it if we can pass 
unsuspected in the matter." 

"Thus far," was Doctor Dean's reply, "you 
are all right — a fact which, perhaps, will not 
increase your respect for our gift of penetration. 
When pressed for the names of the kind friends 
who have mainly aided in making this purchase, 
I have replied that I was not at liberty to give 
names, and could only state that the funds came 
from friends of the family who resided at a dis- 
tance. On this information the neighbors have 
generally accepted the conclusions of the wid- 
ow, that she is indebted to some of her Eastern 
friends who knew her in better days." 

"All this is very well," said Rudolph, "ex- 

16* 



1 86 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

cept in one respect. As we have not as yet 
been publicly identified with any kindness 
shown to the poor family, the friends will form 
but a poor opinion of us if we shall leave the 
neighborhood without in some way doing some- 
thing for their relief. To avert such a judgment, 
and at the same time aid in keeping the public 
from penetrating our secret, I have thought that 
it might be better for us to pay another visit to 
the family and make some public show of aid- 
ing them." 

"A very good idea," was Mr. Dean's an- 
swer, "and one which I had thought of sug- 
gesting. You and Milton can arrange a visit 
to suit your convenience. And now to our 
study : 

" In our last lesson we were occupied with 
the lingering beauties of Eden, and now we 
pass from the pleasing contemplation to look 
at the insect world, and see if we cannot dis- 
cern a beauty of form and fitness of purpose to 
justify the wisdom of the creation of this order 
of creatures. The insect kingdom is one of the 
most numerous, as its purposes are the most 
involved, of the whole round of creation. On 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 1 87 

every individual of the almost endless variety 
God has put the imprint oi his matchless skill, 
but when their claims to usefulness are exam- 
ined, the verdict is sometimes against them 
from the facts most open to observation. Per- 
haps in this very aspect we get a key to their 
true economy in Nature : their obscure and 
humble labors are well fitted to teach us im- 
portant moral lessons. Lest we should fail in 
our dulness to learn what they are adapted to 
teach, God himself has more than once direct- 
ed special attention to them : * Go to the ant, 
thou sluggard ; consider her ways, and be wise/ 
Let us take this divine hint, and perhaps we 
may gather some choice grains of wisdom in 
the search; a wholesome fear is the first step 
toward a true obedience. 

" Ever since this divine proverb bade man go 
to the ant and gather wisdom from her indus- 
try and provident ways, the pertinence of the 
exhortation has become more and more em- 
phatic by every renewed and close study of her 
habits ; and so, from that day, now more than 
half a century past, when my entire hours were 
spent, in preference to indulgence in youth- 
ful sports, prone and with chin resting on the 



1 88 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

hands, watching the curious activities of an ant- 
colony, these insects have been special objects 
of wonder and delightful study. Year by year 
some new and deeply-interesting fact was add- 
ed to the stock of knowledge respecting their 
strange habits. Thus it has been ascertained 
that they build houses, make slaves, keep cows, 
fight battles, conquer adverse kingdoms, live in 
the fiercest heats possible for animal life, are 
frozen into cakes of ice, and come forth when 
thawed with unchecked vitality, and show many 
other marvellous phases of life. For a time it 
was thought that the sum-total of their history 
had been completed ; but no, it was a very grave 
mistake, as the following sketch, published in a 
late number of the Journal of Science y will prove. 
The writer says : 

" ' Among the Hymenoptera the lead is un- 
doubtedly taken by the ants, which, like men, 
have a brain much more highly developed than 
that of the neighboring inferior groups. Per- 
haps the most elevated of the Formicide family 
is the agricultural ant of Western Texas. This 
species is, save man, the only creature which 
does not depend for its sustenance on the prod- 
ucts of the chase or the spontaneous fruits of 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 89 

the earth. A colony of these ants will clear a 
tract of ground some four or five feet in width 
around their city, and remove all plants, stones, 
and rubbish. A species of minute grain re- 
sembling rice is sown therein, and the field is 
carefully tended, kept free from weeds, and 
guarded against marauding insects. When ma- 
ture, the crop is reaped, and the seeds dried 
and carried into the nest. If this is done near 
another colony, the latter regard it as an intru- 
sion, and a fierce w r arfare results, which ends in 
the total destruction of one or the other side. 

" * The Texan ant removes any offensive mat- 
ter placed near its city, and carries it away. 
Ants who refuse to work are put to death. 
Prisoners are brought in by a fellow-citizen, 
and handed over in a very rough way to the 
guards, who carry off the offenders into the 
underground passages. 

" ' Instances of sagacity and design might 
be easily multiplied. Careful observation has 
shown that the ants are improving as fast as 
their short term of life will permit them. They 
are becoming more wise and more civilized 
yearly. Each century marks advance. Who 
knows but that perhaps in the dim future they 



190 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

may assert rights which human beings shall be 
bound to respect?' 

" A late writer in the Popular Science Monthly 
says : 

" * Let us suppose that, having no previous 
acquaintance with the subject, we were sud- 
denly informed, on good authority, that there 
existed in some part of the globe a race of be- 
ings who lived in domed habitations, aggre- 
gated together so as to form vast and populous 
cities ; that they exercised jurisdiction over the 
adjoining territory, laid out regular roads, ex- 
cavated tunnels underneath the beds of rivers, 
stationed guards at the entrances of their towns, 
carefully removed any offensive matter, main- 
tained a rural police, organized extensive hunt- 
ing-expeditions, at times even waged war upon 
neighboring communities, took prisoners and 
reduced them to a state of slavery ; that they 
not merely stored up provisions with due care, 
to avoid their decomposition by damp and fer- 
mentation, but that they kept cattle, and in 
some cases even cultivated the soil and gath- 
ered in the harvest. We should unquestion- 
ably regard these creatures as human beings 
who had made no small progress in civiliza- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 191 

tion, and should ascribe their actions to reason. 
If we were then told that they were not men, 
and they were in some places formidable ene- 
mies to man, and had even, by their continued 
molestations, caused certain villages to be for- 
saken by all human* occupants, our interest 
would perhaps be mixed with some little shade 
of anxiety lest we were here confronted by a 
race who, under certain eventualities, might 
contest our claim to the sovereignty of the 
globe. But when we learn that these won- 
derful creatures are insects some few lines in 
length, our curiosity is cooled; we are apt, 
if duly guided by dominant prepossessions, to 
declare that the social organization of these 
beings is not civilization, but at most quasi-civ- 
ilization — that the guiding principle is not rea- 
son, but instinct or quasi-intelligence, or some 
other of those unmeaning words which are so 
useful when we wish to shut our eyes to the 
truth. Yet that ants are really, for good 
or evil, a power in the earth, and that they 
seriously interfere with the cultivation and 
development of some of the most productive 
regions known, is an established fact/ 

"These latter statements may be rather 



192 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

strongly put, but there is enough of reality 
established in the history of ant life to give 
probability to their approximate truthfulness, 
and certainly sufficient to stimulate continued 
and closer observations in this department of 
natural science. 

" Another class of Hymenoptera, the bees, 
are equally interesting objects of study, and 
somewhat similar in habits, and far more profit- 
able, as they furnish one of our table luxuries 
in the rich stores of honey which they gather 
from the gardens and fields. But as the habits 
of these useful servants are generally better 
known than those of any of their compeers, 
detail is not necessary. They are wonderful 
architects, exact geometricians, skilful chem- 
ists, and patterns of industry and political econ- 
omy. Surely, there is not only sweetness in 
their well-stored honeycombs for the palate, 
but richer lessons of wisdom for the devout 
mind in every study into the manner and thrift 
of the home of the bees. 

" If there is desire to observe the grotesque 
in Nature, the walking-leaf will furnish a rich 
subject of investigation. Should this strange 
creature not meet the demands of curiosity, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 93 

then turn to the mantis family, and observe 
the odd camel cricket, or hunt up a specimen 
of the wingless Phasma, or walking-stick. In 
these grotesque figures it will be evident that 
Nature has a rich sense of the humorous in 
working out her adaptations and purposes. 

" Who but has listened curiously to the gar- 
rulous evening tattle of the katydid, that noisy 
harbinger of frosts, ripened nuts, and apples ? 
Beguiled by its saucy notes, if one has been 
persevering enough to search out the hidden 
gossip, its pair of green wings and the richer 
twain beneath, and its curious manner of vocal- 
ization, have abundantly repaid for the diligence. 

" The familiar grasshoppers — or, more prop- 
erly, the locusts — are known to all in all lands. 
With their gauzy wings richly striped, and their 
many interesting habits, the study of them is 
not without deep interest; but time will not 
admit of extended description here. 

" Alas ! the rose has its thorns, the bee its 
sting; and so all that is wonderful and beautiful 
is hedged about with cautions to quicken our 
sensibilities. What more seemingly harmless 
than the insignificant curculio or weevil, Colo- 
rado bug or army-worm ? But how terrible 
17 N 



194 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

they may become in fact, the blighted orchards 
and desolated fields of vast regions of our 
country have borne fearful testimony. They 
have sent the inhabitants of some of the most 
fertile sections to beg food for their starving 
families, and we have been severely taught to 
fear what once only attracted a curious notice. 

" The red-legged locust of the West is an- 
other of those apparently innocuous insects that 
go forth in hosts. Who would suspect any 
great danger from such an innocent-looking 
creature ? Ask this question of the despairing, 
starving Kansas and Minnesota farmers ; nay, 
the question need not be asked, for the memory 
of their pathetic appeals for bread to feed their 
perishing children is still fresh. Their cries for 
help have made the world acquainted with the 
power to scourge possessed by these dreaded 
swarms of insects. From the lips of one of 
these many sufferers the following graphic tale 
was heard : 

" * In the morning I was surveying my most 
abundant promise of a rich harvesting, de- 
voutly thankful that I had escaped the dreadful 
calamity which had fallen upon some other por- 
tions of the State. I had ample promise of 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 95 

plenty for my own wants, and enough to spare 
in generous supplies to the afflicted ones — a 
thought which gave me great pleasure. Alas ! 
how soon the vision changed ! About the 
middle of the afternoon a sudden dimness ap- 
peared in the north-west, which I at first mis- 
took for a rising cloud. Anon, it grew darker 
and darker, and came on apace with the noise 
and gloom of a thunder-cloud ;• and, alas ! with 
more fatal effects than had ever followed the 
rush of the hurricane. It was the terrible army, 
or rather the living storm, of grasshoppers. 
The cloud was so vast and thick that the sun 
was obscured, and fate so ordered that they 
should settle upon my promise-burdened fields. 
They covered the ground in such numbers that 
they could be shovelled up as one would shovel 
grain. All weapons were powerless against 
such a foe, and we could only seek shelter from 
personal harm, and despairingly witness the 
destruction of all our hopes ; and a completer 
ruin was never inflicted. When another morn- 
ing returned nothing remained of the rich 
promise of the day before ; all was gone, stalk 
and branch, leaf and ear, and my fields were as 
bare as the bleakest desert of Arabia.' 



I96 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

" This sketch is but a repetition of scores of 
instances of the sweeping desolation left behind 
these winged messengers of destruction. It is 
the story graphic as of old, when the ' locusts 
went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested 
in all the coasts of Egypt; very grievous were 
they ;' and ' they covered the face of the whole 
earth, so that the land was darkened, and they 
did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit 
of the trees which the hail had left/ Look at 
this terror of the East, and he seems wholly 
incapable of compelling history to put on record 
such a fearful testimony of his deeds. Indeed, 
the page that sets forth his conquering flight 
over Egypt is not sufficiently graphic in pic- 
turing his devastations, and so the mouth of 
prophecy pauses in its foretelling to give the 
fitting embodiment of this winged terror. In 
all the settings forth of divine wrath there is 
nothing more terrible in descriptive strength 
than the reference to the scourge of locusts in 
the second chapter of Joel : ' A day of dark- 
ness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of 
thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the 
mountains ; a great people and a strong ; there 
hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 97 

more after it, even to the years of many gene- 
rations. A fire devoureth before them ; and 
behind them a flame burneth ; the land is as the 
garden of Eden before them, and behind them 
a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall 
escape them. The appearance of them is as 
the appearance of horses ; and as horsemen, so 
shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on 
the tops of the mountains shall they leap, like 
the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the 
stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 
Before their face the people shall be much 
pained ; all faces shall gather blackness. They 
shall run like mightly men; they shall climb 
the wall like men of war; and they shall 
march every one on his ways, and they shall 
not break their ranks ; neither shall one thrust 
another ; they shall walk every one in his path ; 
and when they fall upon the sword, they shall 
not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in 
the city; they shall run upon the wall, they 
shall climb up upon the houses ; they shall enter 
into the windows like a thief. The earth shall 
quake before them ; the heavens shall tremble ; 
the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the 

stars shall withdraw their shining : and the 
13* 



198 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

Lord shall utter his voice before his army ; for 
his camp is very great ; for he is strong that 
executeth his word ; for the day of the Lord is 
great and very terrible ; and who can abide it ?' 

" In this extract it is seen that language, even 
under the impulse of inspiration, labors to set 
forth in proper terrors the judgment that Jeho- 
vah can execute by the use of these feeble in- 
sects ; and he must be a dull pupil who fails to 
comprehend the great moral lesson. Singly, 
the locust is but a i feeble folk ;' but when 
chosen by Jehovah as his army of vengeance, 
invested with omnipotence, and marshalled by 
the Almighty One himself, verily, ' Who can 
abide it?' 

" Certainly, this aspect of insect life will show 
that God can use the most insignificant thing to 
embody the grandest and most awful of his at- 
tributes. If man is so brutish as not to recog- 
nize the wonders of his hand in structural forms 
and gracious adaptations, he can arouse him 
from his dulness by showing through the ne- 
glected and misunderstood work the guilt of 
his insensibility. 

" The locusts, like all the creations of God, 
have a benevolent end to serve. In many parts 



Hd 

£ 




THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 1 99 

of the great East where vegetation is quite un- 
known, or is of so stinted a character as to 
afford no help to the wandering tribes, the 
clouds of these insects come with gladness on 
their wings. Finding nothing in the desert to 
eat, they are eaten themselves by the hungry 
Arabs, and are hailed with shoutings of grati- 
tude to God and his Prophet. 

" Truly, God can teach great moral lessons 
by very humble agencies ; and let us beware 
lest the insignificance of the agencies should 
hide from our eyes the Infinite One who thus 
employs them. They go forth with the weap- 
ons of Omnipotence when God bids them 
march forward as his 'army with banners.' 

" From the recent and almost miraculous ap- 
pearance of some of these insect monitors, and 
the fearful admonition which they have given us 
of their power to inflict harm, we may infer that 
God has an occasion of controversy with us, 
and it will be well for us to hear the ' rod, and 
who hath appointed it,' for God does not ad- 
monish for naught, nor suffer his warnings to 
go unheeded. In our moralizing over past 
judgments we may forget to turn from our 
own evil ways. 



200 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

" It seems to be a natural and almost a uni- 
versal sentiment to hate bugs, and shrink from 
them with more or less of loathing and dread. 
And truly the horrid odor which most of them 
shed around, and the equally repulsive shapings 
of some of them, as the Goliaths, the Scarabczi, 
and the stag-beetles, are at least a strong justi- 
fication of this feeling toward them. But who 
that attended the great Centennial Exhibition, 
and was held lingering for hours among that 
marvellous collection of Brazilian bugs, but 
was forced to reconsider his strong verdict 
of condemnation? We thought not of the 
detestable odor, their crawling offensiveness, 
and relentless ravages, in our astonishment at 
their unexpected and dazzling brilliancy. Per- 
chance we had just crossed over from Tiffany's 
incomparable collection of diamonds and pre- 
cious stones, with the eyes yet dazed with their 
splendors, and when it almost seemed profane 
to look at anything else. But in the presence 
of that insect jewelry no shock of transition 
was felt ; the Brazilian bug was a worthy com- 
petitor with Tiffany's diamonds — as brilliant in 
color and iridescence, if not an equal in hard- 
ness of texture and moneyed value. As orna- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 201 

ments they were unsurpassed in beauty and 
brilliancy; and doubtless had it not been for 
the powerful influence of old prejudices against 
the whole insect tribe, the exhibition of this 
splendid collection would have led to their 
general use for purposes of adornment. But 
the sentiment against them was too strong ; and 
it is to be regretted that most of that rare ex- 
hibit was carried back to the land from whence 
it came, and we can only remember it as a 
bright vision that has passed from our behold- 
ing. It is to be feared that the only permanent 
effect of this brilliant display has been to make 
us loath more our own comparatively homely 
native bugs. Let us not, however, be unjust 
even to a bug, much less to those — and we 
have many — that possess worthy claims to our 
admiration. Even the common brown squash- 
bug is not without points of attractiveness. 
Though quite sombre in color, yet its nicely- 
adjusted wing-covers and the gauzy pair so 
deftly folded beneath may challenge admiring 
observation. But, differ as we may about the 
attractions of this bug, there will be no ques- 
tion as to the rich arrayal of the well-known 
cabbage-bug, as all who are accustomed to raise 



202 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

this common vegetable can testify. Its shape 
is not ungraceful, and the wings are strikingly- 
beautiful ; but it should be only looked at, not 
meddled with, as its odor is most nauseously 
offensive. 

" If, indeed, the familiar lightning-bug is with- 
out other attractions, he makes himself nightly 
welcome by his singular powers of illuminating 
the darkness around him ; and we could sooner 
spare a more brilliant insect than miss his year- 
ly return to flit and glow and make radiant the 
landscape. 

" Nature does not seem to delight in broad 
contrasts, but takes the observer by gentle tran- 
sitions from the kingdom of one order into the 
dominions of another ; and it is by such a gra- 
dation that we pass from the bugs to the Cica- 
da. In their larval and pupa states the careless 
would be likely to class them among the former, 
but when fully developed their marked differ- 
ences are clearly apparent, and they are seen to 
come nearer to the great and terrible family of 
the locusts, by which name, indeed, they are 
most generally known. But look at this speci- 
men of the class, and it will be plainly seen 
that they have many individual characteristics. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 203 

In mouth, eyes, shape, and wings this insect is 
strikingly peculiar, and equally so in habits and 
its manner of vocalization, which every one is 
familiar with. Though the minstrelsy of this 
insect is somewhat rough and monotonous, let 
us not disparage the poor harper, for his free, 
active life is but a short one, being limited to a 
few weeks of summer sunshine, and he seems 
to fill up the moments with song, in order to 
make the most of their brevity. 

" In his unique green corslet and gauzy wings 
he is no ordinary creature to look at, and, being 
comparatively innocuous, his presence is not so 
repellant as that of some of the species. 

" There is a near kinsman to the above, how- 
ever, of whom so favorable an account cannot be 
given — the well-known seventeen-year locust. 
Much less gifted in personal attractions, this 
insect would claim little notice were it not for 
the remarkable fact attendant on its reproduc- 
tion, and from which it has derived its name ; 
and for the great destruction which is perpetrat- 
ed during the short active existence of the new 
crop. When the long period of earthly incu- 
bation has passed, and the woods and fields are 
infested by the immense swarms of perfect Cica- 



204 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

dce y the harsh noise of their tiny drums fills the 
air with a continuous din. Soon the trees are 
draped in dead branches and foliage, as though 
a fire or an untimely frost had done its work of 
destruction. This devastation is caused by the 
new deposit of larvae ; they remain, however, but 
a short time on the trees. When mature they 
drop to the earth, and bury themselves for their 
long sleep of seventeen years. A terrible period, 
surely, to be swaddled in so dark and dismal a 
cradle, but it proves a safe one ; for, prompt to 
the year, they come forth to render their turn 
of service in propagating the strength and glory 
of their ancestors. 

" The first opportunity for observing this 
strange phase of insect life occurred to me in 
i860, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, where 
the ' locusts ' filled the woods for many miles 
with noise and blighted branches. In passing 
through the infested district they were exceed- 
ingly annoying, not only exciting almost to 
madness our horses, but, by a persistent inva- 
sion of the carriage, crawling over our persons, 
until our curiosity was quite overbalanced by 
the torment which they inflicted. This circum- 
stance caused a careful note of the date to be 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 205 

made, and the allotted period for their return 
was anxiously waited for. It came at last, and, 
true to their traditions, the new swarms of Cica- 
da put in their appearance, and the question 
of their ability to fulfil the conditions of their 
perpetuity was fully verified ; they were indeed 
seventeen-year locusts ! 

" Late one autumn a large leathery sack was 
found hanging to a slender branch of a lilac- 
bush. It was no strange or unknown sight, as 
it was at once recognized as the winter home of 
a chrysalis of some Lepidopteran ; its enormous 
size was what attracted special notice. The 
sack was of a dingy brown, and much resem- 
bled the flesh side of a piece of hemlock-tanned 
sole leather. It was about five inches long, 
pear-shaped, and securely attached to the limb. 
It may be inferred that the object was watched 
with great solicitude during the long months of 
winter, a season which proved to be of unusual 
severity. The cold was excessive, the ther- 
mometer several times falling below zero, and 
varied by occasional storms of sleet, during 
which the swinging habitation was thickly en- 
crusted with ice, causing much fear lest the 
sleeping pupa within should be destroyed. 



206 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

There was no little anxiety, therefore, as to 
the result when the warm spring days returned. 
Would the long and carefully-watched cocoon 
prove the shroud of the embryo within? or 
would it bravely endure such severe trials, to 
come forth and prove what a giant of the Lepi- 
dopteran race had been safely rocked through 
such rough inclemency? At last the hour of 
decision came, and, much to the delight of the 
anxious watcher, the result was all that could 
wished. Creeping from its wintry cerements, 
a magnificent moth, known as the Atticus 
Prometheus, came forth — a giant of his tribe. 
When this splendid insect reached perfection 
it measured seven inches across the wings, a 
much larger specimen than had ever before 
come under the notice of the observer. It was, 
indeed, a splendid creature. Its long plumy an- 
tennae, soft velvety wings exquisitely variegated, 
and gaudily-ringed body made it a fascinating 
object, and one that has not tired inspection 
yet, for it is now before our eyes in this glass 
case, and is ' still beautiful in death/ Along- 
side of it is the deserted mansion in which it 
so safely passed through the months of that 
dread winter. After the escape of the moth 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 207 

it was carefully examined. In texture it is as 
strong as leather, and bears no small resem- 
blance on the interior to the hair side of a piece 
of polished morocco. It is perfectly impervious 
to water, and has a soft padding between the 
outer and inner surfaces, after the manner of 
a comfortable or quilt; and altogether it fur- 
nishes a remarkable instance of special adapta- 
tion which only a divine mind could devise and 
consummate. 

" The death's-head moth has very much the 
same history as the last named, which need not 
be repeated. The peculiar differences are in 
form and adornment, from one of which cha- 
racteristics it takes its name. Turn the head 
of the insect upward, and a striking resemblance 
to a human face will be readily recognized be- 
tween the upper pair of wings. Harmless as 
the creature is, this singular mark, combined 
with its peculiar notes, has been sufficient to 
inspire the ignorant with great terror, for they 
regard it as the dread harbinger of contagion 
and death. 

" The moths constitute a large family in the 
insect kingdom — a fact which can be easily 
proved. All the moth tribes are peculiarly 



208 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER 

active at night, and by opening a window and 
giving them access to a light, abundant speci- 
mens can be soon gathered. Especially will 
the smaller varieties be seen buzzing around 
the blaze in annoying swarms, scorching their 
wings by repeated contact with the flame, one 
experience not being sufficient to teach them 
wisdom. This stupidity has pointed a moral 
for those who are disposed to run rashly into 
danger. As many as fifty different species have 
been gathered around a single evening lamp; 
but, to make the experiment more thorough, 
build a small fire in an orchard during some 
mild summer night, and the observer will then 
find abundant specimens of the moths infesting 
the neighborhood. They will be seen coming 
from every direction to meet their doom in the 
flames, into which they fly directly. The silly 
moth is a proverb in the mouths of the higher 
race, whose folly, however, often surpasses that 
of the poor insect, that might aptly retort, 
'Silly man!' 

" A great many varieties of these insects are 
found in the United States, and many of them 
are of rare beauty; but in warmer climates a 
much richer catalogue can be made ; and even 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 209 

in Europe there are some exquisite specimens 
of which we cannot boast, as the herald and 
many-plumed moths, and other beautiful com- 
peers. 

" But some of these insects have an interest 
beyond any curiosity of structural organization 
or peculiarity of habits ; they have a rich com- 
mercial value. Some for their rarity command 
very high prices, as much as seventy dollars 
having been paid for a single specimen. Some 
are highly prized for their rare beauty, as was 
seen in the grand Centennial Exhibition ; others 
for their great value in meeting some pressing 
need, as the cochineal insect for the rich dye- 
ing matter which it furnishes, and especially 
the well-known silkworm. Princes and peasants 
are alike indebted to this humble moth for their 
richest array; and the annual contribution of 
these insects to human wealth can hardly be 
estimated. The fate of some nations is almost 
dependent on the successful industry of these 
patient spinners of downy wrappings for their 
descendants, but which are diverted to serve 
that purpose to the dominant race of man. 

" ' It is only a bug ' is an expression often 
heard, as though it were destitute of any value 
18* 



2IO THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

or consideration whatever, and only to be 
thought of simply in the light of a pest, and 
significant for the great annoyance which it 
causes. Our slight study of entomology has 
been quite sufficient to reverse this hasty and 
ill-considered verdict. When we trace out their 
curious habits, consider their rich array, their 
immense numbers, and the ruin which they can 
inflict, we can well exclaim, ' Great is the king- 
dom of bugs v 

" But here we may pause, for our end has 
been attained. Bug and moth have brought us 
into the presence of the Infinite One, who has 
often been pleased to make these poor weak- 
lings bear witness to the power of his own 
omnipotence. With this lesson vividly im- 
pressed on the mind, let us not exhibit the 
grovelling habits of the one, ever crawling in 
the dirt, nor the silly stupidity of the other, 
burning ourselves by the very light which was 
set to warn us of danger and make us see the 
way of safety. 

" Trusting that we have a better understand- 
ing of Jehovah's creative wisdom from our 
study of some of its less obtrusive forms, I 
wish you good-night." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

BLOSSOMS OF THE AIR. 

/^~\N the next resumption of his conversation 
^^ Doctor Dean said : 

11 1 have already intimated that the great 
Divine Architect in his world-building and 
adorning does not introduce sudden and broad 
contrasts, but incites us to climb the beautiful 
ladder by making each step a fitting transition 
to the next above. This is especially to be 
noted as we pass from ' creeping things ' to 
those beautiful aerial wonders that * fly above 
the earth in the open firmament of heaven/ 

" As we were watching bug and beetle the 
attention was arrested by many curious worm- 
like creatures crawling over branch and leaf or 
measuring their way by alternate outstretchings 
and contractions. Judged from their appear- 
ance, they seemed to belong to the grovelling 

things that cleave to the dust ; but as we watched 

211 



212 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

their progress we saw miller and moth burst 
from these loathsome cerements and float away 
in forms so beautiful that we called them ' blos- 
soms of the air/ Enticed by such brilliant 
apparitions, it will not be unwillingly that we try 
in this lesson to interest ourselves in these 
aerial wonders. In striving to keep in view 
this gorgeously-arrayed monitor we shall doubt- 
less find our feet on a higher round of the lad- 
der than any which we have yet succeeded in 
reaching — 

* The beautiful blue butterflies, 
That flutter around the jasmine stems 
Like winged flowers or flying gems.' 

" As we consider this subject, our eyes may 
glance from time to time at a case of butterflies 
wherein fifty markedly different species are rep- 
resented. And such a picture of exquisite shapes 
and rich coloring on a soft velvet background can 
hardly be found in any other living combination, 
except it be an equal number of humming-birds. 
But if these tiny birdlings can match the but- 
terfly picturing, they cannot come into compe- 
tition with the marvellous progress of Lepidop- 
teran life — three stages so unique and seemingly 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 21 3 

so antagonistic as almost to stagger belief, even 
when all the facts have been verified and the 
glorious result is floating before the enraptured 
vision. 

" In the beginning of this beautiful life there 
is found glued to some limb, or hidden beneath 
a sheltering bark or leaf, a cluster of minute 
eggs. In due time there issues from one of 
these germlets a caterpillar or worm-like crea- 
ture, smooth, hairy, or bristled as the species 
may be. This larva is curiously furnished with 
two sets of legs widely differing in form and 
manner of use. One set, always numbering 
six, are placed near the head, and are armed 
with sharp hooks or claws, and are the true 
legs, preserved through all the subsequent 
changes. The other legs are at the anterior 
part of the caterpillar, and vary from two to 
ten in different species. A large space is gen- 
erally left between these sets of legs, so that the 
worm in moving alternately uses them, causing a 
bending upward of the body as the anterior pairs 
are brought up to the forward ones. The super- 
numerary legs sometimes have a sucker-mouth, 
thus enabling the creature to adhere to smooth 
surfaces with more or less tenacity; but more 



214 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

often the foot is encircled with a row of sharp 
hooks, that under the microscope have a most 
formidable aspect. In this somewhat repulsive 
form the caterpillar is known to everybody ; 
and generally the more beautiful the coming 
butterfly, the more repellant the worm. Look 
at this, one of the smallest and least offensive, 
and yet large enough to repel any close ac- 
quaintance. 

" To one unacquainted with the wonderful 
life of the butterfly, this poor crawler would 
be little suggestive of the brilliant life of which 
it is the prophecy, and which, on fulfilment, is 
seen floating through the air and feeding on the 
nectar of flowers. But let us be more observing, 
and see if the asserted fact can be verified. 

" In watching the progress of the humble 
larva, he is seen to doff his outer wrappings 
for a number of times with little or no change 
in form or markings ; but by and by some new 
movement is evidently approaching. The poor 
worm becomes dull, loses color, and seems to 
be perplexed. After some hesitation it spins a 
cocoon or a few silken threads, and wraps itself 
in its self-made cerements, or hangs itself with 
the cord of its own spinning head downward, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 21 5 

and waits for the time when its change shall 
come. In this state of expectancy the embryo 
beauty remains sometimes for months ; the ac- 
tive and greedy worm has become a dull mass 
of almost lifeless matter, passive, motionless, 
taking no nourishment, and shut out from the 
very atmosphere in which the coming life is to 
find its chief vitality and display. Swinging by 
its silken cord or wrapped in downy swaddlings, 
the allotted time is passed, but finally and sure- 
ly the hour of happy deliverance comes. The 
shell of the chrysalis opens on the back, and 
soon there emerges the new creature, seeming- 
ly astonished at its strange surroundings of life 
and sunshine. The wings are at first moist and 
somewhat crumpled, but they soon expand and 
dry, and the young blossom of the air is ready 
for its short and beautiful life. The false legs 
are gone, with bristles and mandible jaws, and 
in their place the glorious investiture of wings, 
antennae, and long proboscis are given; from 
gnawing leaves and wood, and dieting on cab- 
bage or poisonous nettles, the insect now be- 
gins its banqueting on honey from roses and 
clover. A wonderful transition both in form 
and modes of life ! 



2l6 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

" When fully invested for its new sphere, the 
butterfly first proves its gauzy members by a 
few gentle openings and foldings, and then, with 
a joyous spring, floats away to bask in the sun 
and sip its dainty meals, the loveliest creature 
in a summer landscape. 

* Lo ! the shrouded thing, 
Loosed from its earthly covering, 
From shape uncouth and dusky hue, 
Like some fair vision springs to view. 
A glossy wing in burnished pride, 
Unfolding, rises from each side : 
It is a butterfly as bright 
As ever sparkled in the light.' 

" No wonder that a beginning so unpromis- 
ing, a manner of progress so paradoxical, and 
a consummation so exquisitely brilliant should 
furnish themes for abundant moralizing and apt 
comparisons. The analogies to human life need 
not be redrawn, as they are too common to be 
unknown by the ordinary observer ; but the rich 
instructiveness, leading to a clearer knowledge 
of the handiwork of God, must not be overlook- 
ed, as the lesson cannot be too often enforced, 
and the golden text now before the mind is, 

'The Hand that made us is divine!' 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2\J 

" If an attempt should be made to paint the 
rich arrayal of the fifty varieties of these gaudy 
insects under inspection as we study this les- 
son, volumes would be required to do them 
justice. It may be that some other shade or 
combination could be devised, but it would 
border on the remotest edge of possibility. 
Take the peacock butterfly, for instance, which 
can be but partially reproduced even by a skil- 
ful artist, and mark the rich combinations, all 
laid on a ground of the softest velvet. Glance 
now at the striking contrast as seen in the pur- 
ple emperor. How dainty the richly-scalloped 
wings ! but no pencil can give them that splen- 
dor of iridescence which is their chief glory. 
How it sparkles and plays among those bright 
colors as the light touches and glances over the 
wings when spread out in the sun, or gently 
sawing the air as the insect settles on the flower 
or floats gaudily by ! 

" The Leptocircus, with its long wing-projec- 
tions, is equally striking, and is the brilliant 
representative of a splendidly-endowed family. 
Nor is the little Vanessa to be passed by or de- 
spised. Its colors are less striking, but they are 
so softly blended and velvety as to win admir- 

19 



2l8 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 

ing notice. The elegant tortoise-shell varieties 
are associated with this beautiful insect, and 
are very attractive objects to view. 

" Turning now to another group, the first 
that holds attention is the Papilio turnus, a 
rare beauty. This splendid creature belongs 
to a gorgeously-decked family, members of 
which are found in all sections of our country. 
Besides the one shown in the group, there are 
two others for inspection, on whose wings are 
traced the most elaborate adornings. The gen- 
eral color is a blackish-green, with pale golden 
shield and crescent-shaped blotches, with spots 
of amethyst and blue, and all flushed with that 
peculiar iridescence which distinguishes the 
butterfly races. These aerial beauties are plen- 
tiful in the meadows and fields of New Jersey, 
where one may while away many a delight- 
ful hour in watching their flights and admiring 
their beauties. 

" The last of these animal blossoms which 
will be mentioned is known as the Camberwell 
beauty, and is eminently worthy of the reputa- 
tion it enjoys. The wings are mainly covered 
by a soft, dark-purple velvet, bordered with 
golden lacework, and spangles of blue and black 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 219 

settings. It is regarded as the chief glory of 
British butterflies, and has representatives in 
America that worthily keep up the reputation 
of their Transatlantic compeers. 

" What has been stated only gives a glance at 
that part of butterfly life and adornment which 
meets the common observer, and, though won- 
derful, is not the whole of the curious history 
of these insects. In the Lepidopteran order 
the microscopist finds one of the most attrac- 
tive fields for his researches. Passing by the 
visible splendors, vivacity, and paradoxical life 
of these airy voyagers, let one of the many 
hundreds be taken, and the mealy dust from 
its rainbow wings is a world of enchantment 
when placed under the glass of the instrument. 
The gaudy wings are thus found covered with 
symmetrically arranged scales, like the tiles on 
a roof. These scales bear a striking likeness to 
the petals of flowers ; they are rounded, lance- 
shaped, serrated, and forked, and of all pos- 
sible hues, which they blend and give back 
by a power of iridescence peculiarly their own. 
There is all the dazzling richness of a collection 
of the most precious stones, gold, silver, ruby, 
sapphire, emerald, and opal ; and how they 



220 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

sparkle and flash, until one is almost persuaded 
that there are really so many living rays blazing 
and corruscating over that minute field of glory ! 
What marvels of splendor are clustered on the 
wings of the peacock or the Camberwell but- 
terfly ! and what a long task it would be to 
study all of these hundreds of airy wing-bearers 
and see all the glories enamelled on their gaudy 
appendages ! Looking over the fifty brilliant 
specimens now at hand, and attempting to 
grasp the grand sum-total of splendors, the 
mind becomes oppressed with the effort. 

" And what is the impression made while 
lingering over the dust of a butterfly's wing ? 
One who has ever entered into this invisible 
world of beauty must have felt, with a force 
unknown before, the moral lesson which the 
Saviour teaches when he says, 'The hairs of 
your head are all numbered/ The God who 
watches over our steps and leads us by the 
hand shows his omniscience and minuteness 
of care by thatching with hundreds of scales a 
butterfly's wing, and by touching each one 
with the richest dyes of his palette. Each 
tiny scale is hidden from unaided observation, 
but the whole number are so blended as to 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 221 

form a thing of beauty entrancing to the be- 
holder. 

"So the hidden workings of Providence 
come to us. The little event that touched us 
away back yonder in life, and so lightly as not 
to attract our notice, the steps divinely directed 
when we saw not the need of guidance,, or the 
suggested thought that crept into the mind so 
opportunely and yet so quietly, and thus changed 
the misgoings of life, — these were all divine 
caretakings, unobserved at the time, or thought 
trivial vagaries of Providence ; but when the 
events, all foreseen by our watchful Benefactor, 
were fully developed, and the Fathers hand 
seen in them all, it was then that we exclaimed 
in the fulness of our gratitude, ' Thou knowest 
my downsitting, and mine uprising, thou under- 
standest my thought afar off. Thou compassest 
my path and my lying down, and art acquainted 
with all my ways ;' ' Thou hast beset me behind 
and before, and laid thine hand upon me.' 

"The crawling worm from which we turned 
with loathing was travelling to his glorious 
destiny of incarnation as a butterfly, clothed 
in unsurpassed beauty — from grovelling in the 
dust and feeding on wood and poisonous net- 

19* 



222 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

ties to floating in the air on golden wings and 
sipping honey from the morning flowers. And 
are there no moral analogies here ? Does God 
so adorn and care for a feeble and short-lived 
race of insects, and leave those created in his 
own image, and invested with infinite possibili- 
ties and longings, only to neglect and chance, 
cast off to caprice and despair? Every true 
heart answers with emphasis, ' No ; the thought 
would be blasphemy/ Then surely it is our 
duty, as it should be our highest joy, to de- 
voutly worship and adore the God of our life 
and the sleepless Guardian of our steps, our 
hope now, and our eternal joy hereafter — that 
gracious Being i who is over all, God blessed 
for ever. Amen V 

" The transition from the air-spangled butter- 
flies to the ' fowl of the air ' is as natural as it is 
easy ; it is the next round in the ascent of crea- 
tive glory. Higher in structural organization, 
and serving a more obvious purpose in the di- 
vine plan, the lessons of ornithology have al- 
ways possessed peculiar attractions for the stu- 
dent of natural history. We may hate the bugs 
and take but a passing notice of the gorgeous 
butterflies, but none are so dull as not to feel 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 223 

that a special blessing was conferred on the 
earth when God created the ' winged fowl after 
his kind,' and all concur in the divine approval : 
'And God saw that it was good/ 

" Putting aside the question of utility, and 
taking into consideration only that which inter- 
ests by uniqueness of form and elements of 
beauty, undoubtedly the birds carry off the 
palm. There is no order in all the round of 
Nature that fills so many of the senses, and fills 
them so completely. The floral glories of the 
field and garden gratify the eye and delight 
with their fragrance and lusciousness ; the in- 
sect world has its rare curiosities and attrac- 
tions ; the fish of the sea and the beasts of the 
field have their wonders to hold admiring inspec- 
tion ; but the ' fowls of the air ' surpass them all 
in points of attraction. They gem the air with 
the flash of their wings, and fill the ear with 
the melody of their songs. Their gifts are 
angelic, song and wings ; and they alone of all 
the animal races have acquired something of 
man's endowment of language. A landscape 
without a shrub or flower would be a desert, 
and a grove without a bird or a song would 
repel as a dreary solitude. Neither is abso- 



224 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

lutely necessary for mere existence; and how 
it exalts our conception of the goodness of the 
Divine Father to notice that when he made the 
eye and the ear he so graciously provided for 
the gratification of both ! It has ever seemed 
that a grove with feathered songsters in full 
chorus was the richest token of God's purpose 
to give the fullest delight to man. It is, per- 
haps, the nearest approach of material joys to 
the character of celestial blessedness — beauty, 
song, and pure emotions. The sight and song 
of birds excite no grovelling, sensuous passions, 
beget no unhealthy cravings, impel to no evil 
associations. They rather lead the mind away 
from whatever is gross, and draw the heart pow- 
erfully upward. Joyous devotion is the keynote 
of the bird's melody, and happy is he who can 
catch the true chord of the strain. 

"Oh the delicious days spent in field and 
grove watching their winged inhabitants and 
listening to their sweet, joyous warblings ! The 
happy singers seemed to understand the loving 
interest taken in their innocent pastimes, and 
fluttered the more freely over the head of the 
gratified observer, and twittered with a richer 
cadence as they dallie'd for closer inspection 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 225 

This is no mere flight of rhetoric, for many- 
observers have noticed the same trait in bird- 
character. They seem to understand the pur- 
pose of one who takes an interest in their ways, 
and gratify him by a little coquetry in showing 
off the graces of their feathers and their wings. 
In several instances of personal experience have 
birds shown great familiarity, allowing nearness 
of approach with little or no fear, when the 
presence of a stranger would cause earnest out- 
cries of disapprobation. This trait has been 
especially noted in robins, catbirds, wrens, blue- 
birds, and sparrows, only, perhaps, because they 
are the most common to observation. It was 
only a year ago that some bluebirds became 
too straitened in their quarters, and new accom- 
modations had to be provided for the increasing 
families. These were constructed under the 
curious eyes of the birds, and no sooner were 
they completed than the little home-seekers 
took possession, twittering out their joy and 
fluttering their wings in very thankfulness. 
Nor were they slow in sharply expressing their 
disapprobation to a family of wrens that tried 
to put in a claim to one of the apartments. It 
was quite plain that they tried to make Mrs. 

P 



226 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

Jenny Wren understand that the homestead 
had been erected exclusively for bluebird occu- 
pation, and it was imagined that an appeal was 
made more than once to the interested builder, 
who stood near by, to confirm the rights of the 
true claimants. To end the strife, the disap- 
pointed wrens were provided with suitable quar- 
ters, and the happy colonies are now among 
the feathered treasures of Willow Cottage. 

"The study of birds has ever been a fasci- 
nation, much enhanced by the fact that it was 
in observing their construction and habits that 
there was early obtained the first deep impres- 
sion of special adaptations. Long before any 
knowledge of scientific classification was obtain- 
ed from books, the peculiar formation of many 
birds had arrested attention — the peculiar feet of 
the woodpeckers, the sharp claws and beaks of 
hawks and owls, the long legs of the waders, the 
webbed feet of ducks and geese, and the strong 
toes and legs of the scratchers. Indeed, quite a 
classification had been made out, and so correct- 
ly as to cause no ordinary delight when it was 
found that but little change was required to 
make it conform to the statements of the books. 

"The entire physical organization of a bird 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 227 

is unique and special — bones and feathers, ex- 
ternal shape and internal organs, its habitat and 
manner of reproduction. In all these regards the 
special hand of a Superior Designer is so evi- 
dent that it would be folly to dispute with one 
who might be so dull as to call it in question. 
" But perhaps the most striking peculiarities 
of the. bird are the gift of wings and the man- 
ner of their use. This fact is so marked that 
the distinguished Duke of Argyle, in his trea- 
tise on the Reign of Law, has given the largest 
space to the elucidation of this striking testi- 
mony in favor of a divine mind and hand in 
the creation of a bird. And no wonder, for it 
is one of the most marvellous things in all the 
riches of Nature, extorting even from Solomon 
the confession that among the three or four 
things which he did not understand was the 
'way of an eagle in the air/ Those who would 
enjoy a rich treat, and get clearer conceptions 
of the Infinite Wisdom in the works of crea- 
tion, should get the duke's excellent work, and 
read those pages in which he so beautifully and 
forcibly describes the wings and motive-force of 
various birds. What he writes of the humming- 
bird is too good to be omitted, and is therefore 



228 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 

reproduced for our instruction. He says : ' The 
humming-birds are perhaps the most remark- 
able examples in the world of the machinery 
of flight. The power of poising themselves in 
the air — remaining absolutely stationary whilst 
they search the blossoms for insects — is a power 
essential to their life. It is a power, accord- 
ingly, which is enjoyed by them in the high- 
est perfection. When they intend progressive 
flight, it is effected with such velocity as to 
elude the eye. The action of the wing in all 
these cases is far too rapid to enable the ob- 
server to detect the exact difference between 
the kind of motion which keeps the bird at 
absolute rest in the air and that which car- 
ries it along with such velocity. But there can 
be no doubt that the change is one from a short, 
quick stroke, delivered obliquely forward, to a 
full stroke, more slow, but delivered perpendic- 
ularly. This corresponds with the account 
given by that most accurate ornithological ob- 
server, Mr. Gould. He says : " When poised 
before any object this motion of the wing is so 
rapidly performed that it is impossible for the 
eye to follow each stroke, and a hazy semicir- 
cle of indistinctness on each side of the bird is 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2 29 

all that is perceptible." There is another fact 
mentioned by those who have watched their 
movements most closely, which corresponds 
with the explanation already given — namely, 
the fact that the axis of the humming-bird's 
body when hovering is always highly inclined — 
so much so as to appear almost perpendicular 
in the air. In other words, the wing-stroke, 
instead of being delivered perpendicularly down- 
ward, which would infallibly carry the body on- 
ward, is delivered at such an angle forward as 
to bring to an exact balance the upward, the 
downward, and the forward forces which bear 
upon the body of the bird. Mr. Darwin says : 
" When hovering by a flower, the tail is con- 
stantly shut and expanded like a fan, the body 
being kept in nearly a vertical position!' Mr. 
Wallace, another accurate observer, describes 
the humming-birds as " balancing themselves 
vertically in the air." ' 

"To the exact accuracy of these statements 
can be added the testimony of many years of 
close observation ; and not the least wonder of 
the whole operation is that the bird is able at 
all to use the wing-muscles with such lightning 

rapidity — so rapid as to give the peculiar bullet- 
20 



230 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

like sound which has secured to the bird its 
common designation. 

" The noble reasoner continues : ' So many- 
are these contrivances, so various, so fine, so 
intricate, that a volume might be written with- 
out exhausting the beauty of the method in 
which this one mechanical problem has been 
solved. It is by knowledge of unchanging 
laws that these victories over them seem to 
be achieved; yet not by knowledge only, ex- 
cept as the guide of Power. For here, as every- 
where else in Nature, we see the same myste- 
rious need of conforming to imperative condi- 
tions, side by side with absolute control over 
the forces through which this conformity is 
secured. When any given purpose cannot be 
attained without the violation of some law, 
unless by some new power and some new ma- 
chinery, the requisite power and mechanism are 
evolved generally out of old materials and by 
modifications of pre-existing forms. There can 
be no better example of this than a wing-feather. 
It is a production wholly unlike any other ani- 
mal growth — an implement specially formed 
to combine strength with lightness, elasticity, 
and imperviousness to the air. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 23 1 

" ' On the earth and on the sea man has at- 
tained to powers of locomotion with which, 
in strength, endurance, and in velocity, no ani- 
mal movement can compare. But the air is an 
element on which he cannot travel — an ocean 
which he cannot navigate. The birds of heaven 
are still his envy, and on the paths they tread 
he cannot follow. Float there he may, the sport 
of winds, buffeted and fearful, while his fickle 
gas is held under restraint; but to breast the 
winds at will, and to go whithersoever his rov- 
ing fancy may desire, are beyond man's ability 
until God shall give him wings to soar higher 
than ever yet went flight of sun-dazed eagle.' 

"The sublimest triumph of wing-power is 
seen perhaps in the albatross, found often in 
mid-ocean, where it has been known to follow 
a ship for days and nights together, 

1 The bird of the tireless wing.' 

It moves even in the face of a strong gale with 
little or no effort of wing, and is supposed to 
have the power to sleep, resting on its out- 
spread feathers, while waves toss and break 
below. Stupid and almost helpless on deck or 
on shore, when its wings are outspread it can 



232 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

laugh not only at plodding man, but exult amid 
storm and tempest in a freedom which perhaps 
no other animal can emulate. All visitors to 
the seashore have observed with pleasure the 
easy and beautiful motions of the osprey, or 
fish-hawk ; but to know its power of wing it 
must be seen facing a tempest or shooting with 
the directness and speed of an arrow upon its 
finny prey, and seldom missing the mark. The 
erratic yet graceful movements of the chimney- 
swallows have attracted every observer. High 
in the evening air they sweep through circle 
after circle, with only an occasional flutter of 
the wings ; and then, pausing for a moment 
over some chimney-top, they drop into it with 
the directness of a plummet. Not less beauti- 
ful are the flights of the bank- and brook-swal- 
lows. How gracefully they skim along the 
surface of the water, now and then barely 
touching it, and then, with a twinkle of the 
wings and a joyous twitter, are again shoot- 
ing along as though exulting in their skill ! 

" When we examine the wonderful mechan- 
ism of the bird, we cannot fail to trace out the 
special lines of superior design. The thick 
muscles of the breast, extending up the forearm 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 233 

of the wing; the graceful and nicely-graduated 
feathers and wing-plumes and rudder-like tail, — 
these are marks of special adaptations which 
cannot be overlooked, and reveal a motive- 
power beyond human understanding. 

" Little less wonderful in special adjustment 
are the powers of vision in birds. Eagles have 
a sight so keen that it must be both telescopic 
and microscopic. High in air, they can mark 
the skulking hare or other small game, and 
pounce upon it with unerring certainty. This 
astonishing keenness of vision is shared more 
or less by all the rapacious birds which seize 
their prey by daylight. But while they are 
making such abundant provision for their 
wants, behold sitting yonder the poor owl, 
craving the same kind of feeding, but dozing 
and blinking, quite dazed by the sun-rays 
in which his feathered compeers so much de- 
light. Has the great Provider of meat for all 
made a mistake in the make-up of the hun- 
gry owl ? With a white covering you can ap- 
proach near enough to the poor wight to make 
inspection of his outfit. As you do so, a great 
pair of staring eyes will be turned dully toward 

you ; and with such orbs you wonder that the 
20* 



234 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

bird does not manifest a stronger sense of your 
presence. Look more carefully, and notice that 
in the centre of those great eyes there is only 
a narrow streak of brilliant, glassy black shin- 
ing through the filmy shield that is drawn over 
them. It is observed that the stronger the light 
the greater the contraction of this dark thread. 
Ah, it is clear that those blinking eyes were 
not made for the strong sunlight of day ; but 
let the night come, when eagle and hawk, and 
nearly all the rest of the feathered tribe, seek 
roost and eyrie, and then hear the joyous to- 
whit! to-whoo ! of .the owl; and mark those 
staring orbs, how they expand and the pupils 
dilate, until they can detect the sly mouse as 
he nimbly scrambles among the stubble, or the 
little sparrow hidden among the thick branches. 
God has not forgotten the owl, nor unfitted him 
for his environment ; he is a night-banqueter, and 
knows the hour when the hand of the Bounti- 
ful One has spread the feast for his enjoyment. 
" The wings and eyes of birds are little more 
singular than their digestive apparatus. Tooth- 
less, the food must be swallowed just as found ; 
hard or soft, coarse or fine, it goes into the 
crop, there to be fitted for its work of nutrition. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 235 

Oftentimes the food is swallowed in size nearly 
as large as the head of the bird, as in the case 
of the wild pigeon. From the crop of one of 
these birds there were taken three of the larg- 
est acorns grown in the West, either one of 
which was nearly the size of the pigeon's head. 
When swallowed the shells were unbroken, be- 
ing dry and very hard. To one unacquainted 
with the physiology of birds, it would seem 
impossible for the greedy creature to dispose 
of such cumbersome materials ; and hence one 
might infer that death must ensue from gorg- 
ing such intractable substances. But open the 
distended craw, and see if it will reveal the 
marks of inadequate skill. No ; there is an 
arrangement just adapted to the contingencies 
of the case. The craw is made up of two ex- 
ceedingly muscular halves or valves, lined with 
deeply-corrugated vellum-like skin, capable of 
indefinite and strong contraction and expansion. 
Now mark the marvellous provision for meeting 
the special needs of the bird. With the food a 
quantity of small gravel-stones are swallowed, 
and by the muscular contraction of the crop the 
contents are ground into a pulpy mass easily 
digested and assimilated. 



236 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

"Another marvel in bird life is the annual 
migration northward or southward, according 
to the habits of the bird and the nature of its 
wants, making the temperate zone the middle- 
ground of commingling. Every one is familiar 
with the fact that the birds of our fields differ 
greatly in summer and winter. The spring 
brings the bobolinks, swallows, and vast flocks 
of geese and ducks, wild pigeons, and various 
other kinds of birds ; but the snowy owls, 
buntings, loons, eider-ducks, and similar lovers 
of cool latitudes then seek the higher regions 
of the North, thus fleeing from the heat which 
the others find so essential to their existence. 
How beautifully can be traced in all this the 
beneficent Hand that would gladden the aspects 
of every landscape with the flash of wings and 
anthems of bird-melody ! and thus God makes 
one to pant for sunny groves and the other for 
the cool grottoes and icy ledges of the polar 
regions, where, amid the dread silence of its 
ice-fields, even the hoarse croak of the goose 
must be most welcome music. 

" Whence these wonderful instincts, the abil- 
ity often surpassing the sharpest exhibitions of 
reason ? Why does one turn to the South and 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 237 

the other to the North ? and who guides them 
both on their trackless way? 

' Whither, 'midst falling dew, 

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, 
Far through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue 
Thy solitary way? 

* * * * * 
1 There is a Power whose care 

Teaches thy way along the pathless coast, 
The desert and illimitable air — 
Lone wandering, but not lost. 

* * * * * 
' He who from zone to zone 

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 
In the long way that I must tread alone 
Will lead my steps aright.' 

" Many of these annual aerial voyages are 
made in the night, when all the landmarks are 
hidden by the darkness, yet the markless path- 
way is unerringly kept. How soon would man, 
left thus without waymark or compass, be at 
his wits' end, wandering he knows not where ! 
Reason must have basis and initial-point from 
which to start, and ever-recurring indices, or it 
fails to reach the desired end; but God keeps 
the pilotage of his feathered creatures, so that 
one cannot fall to the ground nor lose its airy 



238 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

way from want of his care and direction. Truly, 
for his unceasing and unfailing guardianship 
they may well repay him with a tribute of 
song and praise; and shall we be less devout 
and grateful than the birds ? Nay, verily, let 
the study of their wonderful endowments lead 
us to emulate their tributary offerings to the 
Infinite One, who with a more watchful care 
and richer love 'will be our Guide even unto 
death/ and afterward receive us to glory." 

" Thank you, doctor, for your exceedingly in- 
teresting lessons," said Davidson, " which have 
been blest so far at least as to give me a higher 
conception of man's life and destiny." 

" I am very glad to hear you say so," replied 
Doctor Dean, "and trust that you may find 
that pathway which shineth 'more and more 
unto the perfect day/ " 

" God speed the day," was the earnest reply, 
i( and keep me under the guidance of a good 
pilotage !" 

" May God grant you both," was the ardent 
response of the kind instructor, " a speedy and 
happy illumination !" 



CHAPTER XV. 

BEAUTIES AND MARVELS OF BIRD LIFE. 

A RECURRENCE of the appointed even- 
■**• ing found the usual company assembled 
in the library at Willow Brook. 

" Since our last interview/' said Doctor Dean, 
"the subject of bird life, with which our last 
conversation closed, has lingered with a pleas- 
ing freshness in my thoughts, creating an in- 
terest that will not allow the topic to rest 
without further illustration. Their curious 
structure, their gifts of beauty and song, and 
their instincts, that sometimes approach so 
nearly to reason, invest the songsters of our 
groves with an unflagging interest. 

" A simple feather is a marvel of construc- 
tion. Notice its horny, tubular stem, and its 
delicate fringing of soft filaments, laminated and 
interlaced by minute barbs, and all held togeth- 
er by a wonderful electric attraction. A small 

239 



240 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

pocket-lens will help to make these facts more 
apparent and interesting. It is exceedingly- 
attractive also to study the variations of the 
feathers of birds as differences of condition 
demand. Every part of the body presents 
some striking modification, head, neck, back, 
breast, wings, and tail — some to shield, some to 
warm, some to fly with, and some to direct the 
flight ; soft and downy in the North to shut out 
the cold, and thin and fibrous to let in the cool 
breezes in the South ; held together and made 
impervious to water by electrical attraction in 
the water-fowls, and open and waving in the 
ostrich of the desert. How omniscient must 
chance, necessity, or natural selection be, in 
order to anticipate and provide for all these 
wonderful contingencies ! and how persistent 
and systematic to check all further variations 
when the happy condition of perfection has 
been reached ! 

" The ' gray goosequill ' or the modest garb 
of the little brown sparrow is a theme for ad- 
miration and study ; but how the field amplifies 
and excites astonishment as the eyes begin to 
take in the strange variations and embellish- 
ments of bird-plumage ! How easy to group 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 24 1 

the colors of the rainbow in a few birds — nay, 
sometimes in a single specimen ! Take the 
orioles, tanagers, finches, jays, with a hum- 
ming-bird or two, and you make up an ani- 
mated picture that will dazzle and delight the 
dullest vision. 

" Examine the splendid collection of parrots 
and macaws in the Zoological Garden at Phila- 
delphia, and notice what a rich display of bril- 
liant coloring will be found in their plumage. 
The egotistic struttings of the gaudy peacock 
have some show of justification with such a 
magnificent spread of jewelled feathers, chal- 
lenging the very genius of colors to an emu- 
lation ; for even if the tints are all correctly 
blended, the matchless iridescence of his plum- 
age will baffle all efforts to reproduce it. 

" In the shaping and adorning of these feath- 
ered brilliants it would seem as though Nature 
in some exceedingly happy and capricious mood 
had taken her patterns and dyes, and shaped and 
splashed to the fullest bent of her fancy, and 
then tossed her work into the air, gem after 
gem, until her sportive imagination could go 
no farther ; and the result was, that the hun- 
dreds of tiny humming-birds went buzzing and 
21 Q 



242 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

sipping from flower to flower to commemorate 
this happy hour of creative sportiveness. 

" We feed on the gross and material, in order 
that we may live on the beautiful and the spir- 
itual ; and no one can have a proper conception 
of the all-abounding goodness of our Heavenly 
Father unless this higher purpose is traced out 
in all his work. The body is the servant of the 
soul, and it requires the greatest watchfulness 
to keep it in proper subjection, for it is ever 
striving to become master; and when it once 
succeeds, it exacts the most grovelling service 
as its trophy of victory. With a proper con- 
ception of the relations of the material to the 
spiritual, the study, of this exquisite order of 
birds cannot fail to inspire us with the most 
devout thoughts. 

"The humming-birds are found, in the warm 
season, as far north as Alaska, and extend 
their range southward as far as Patagonia, the 
greatest numbers and variety being found in 
New Granada. In our Middle States only two 
varieties are seen — the ruby-throated and the 
linne humming-birds. Although they are among 
the least attractive in the group, they are every- 
where hailed with admiration for their brilliancy 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 243 

and vivacity. They are certainly a charming 
sight when seen flashing through the air, now- 
poised on viewless wings as they dip their 
long bills into some honey-laden flower, and 
now shooting with the hum of swift wings to 
another. Occasionally, the humming-bird will 
alight for a moment, but always on some dry, 
leafless twig, and with a peculiar twinkling of 
the wings and a faint chippering sound, the 
only music which it ever seems to make. 
Delightful little rovers among summer bloom 
and sweetness, their absence would cause deep 
regret to every lover of the beautiful. 

" California and the South are favored with 
a large variety of these tiny little air-gems, 
having half a dozen species or more ; but as 
they do not embody any of the higher points 
of beauty, they can be passed without more 
special mention. 

" Near the equator we reach the paradise of 
the humming-birds, and there one may linger 
and feast his eyes with the flash of their wings 
and the sparkle of their living jewelry. 

" The humming-bird family is so numerous 
that no complete living collection has ever 
been brought under inspection, and thus they 



244 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER 

are only seen as lifeless and robbed of half their 
brilliancy. More than five hundred varieties 
have been brought together in the Smithsonian 
Institution, and, though but the ' counterfeit 
presentment' of the living reality, they form a 
peerless group of Nature's exquisite handiwork. 
What a picture to entrance the eyes if we could 
see all these gems of the air sporting and flash- 
ing with their native sprightliness ! 

" To the birds must be given, also, the palm 
for mechanical ingenuity. They can sew, weave, 
braid, felt, glue, and plaster, and in equal variety 
of forms adapt their architecture to the require- 
ments of climate and circumstances ; for in the 
same species the widest variations are found to 
occur as new adjustments are demanded. Few 
objects are more interesting to the lover of the 
curious than a fine collection of birds' nests. 
Once thoroughly examined, it will be admitted 
without dispute that they compare very favor- 
ably with the elaborate work of human hands ; 
indeed, in some instances they surpass the skill 
of man. The marks of special design are every- 
where apparent, and the purpose has been most 
skilfully worked out, though the little workers 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 245 

possess neither square nor dividers, only feet, 
bill, and breast, to aid them in their work. 
The most varied materials are used, and are 
selected and appropriated with special care as 
the different conditions and stages of progress 
require. Now a foundation of sticks or mud, 
as used by the robin, and now moss, grass, 
leaves, and any soft woolly fibre, lint, wool, 
cotton, or down of flowers. Others use a glu- 
tinous secretion or transparent jelly, as in the 
edible swallows' nests so highly prized as a del- 
icacy by the Chinese. But, with the exception 
of a few species which lay their eggs on the 
ground, whatever may be the materials used in 
the main structure, the final inner finish is of 
the softest texture that can be obtained, even 
in some cases, as among the humming-birds, the 
dainty web of the spider. Whatever requisites 
may be used, they are assorted and worked into 
the structure with art that no human skill can 
equal. If this statement is questioned, let the 
doubter try his hand on the nest of a robin 
or an oriole, and he will find his best efforts at 
imitation abortive. 

" In studying these characteristics of birds no 

thoughtful observer can fail to realize the force 
21 * 



246 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

of the question of Job, put to his pretended 
friends : ' But ask now the beasts, and they shall 
teach thee ; and the fowls of the air, and they 
shall tell thee ; and the fishes of the sea shall de- 
clare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these 
that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this ?' 

" But let us look at the attractive and beau- 
tiful beginning of bird life. The nest, the eggs, 
the patient and contented incubating mother- 
bird, the callow young, — all charm the observer, 
w T ith no intrusive element to mar the enjoy- 
ment. The egg from which the bird is evolved 
is like a beautiful jewel ; its cradle is a downy 
couch, rocked by the fragrant airs of summer, 
soothed by matin and vesper from the feathered 
choirs of the grove; and thus the young one 
is prepared to take joyous wing and become 
a happy participant in such a beautiful life. 

" In early days, when works of art were al- 
most unknown in the frugal homes of our fore- 
fathers, the deficiency of adornment was made 
up in some degree by strings of beautiful eggs 
hung in festoons before the looking-glass or 
grouped on mantels and shelves, forming cheap 
but dainty ornaments. Among the earliest re- 
sorts of the lads in those days to obtain their 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2Arf 

pocket-money were bird-nesting expeditions to 
supply some new housekeeper or ambitious 
dame with these coveted ornaments. When 
properly conducted, no great objections could 
be made to these forays, as no real harm was 
ever inflicted on the birds. One or two eggs, 
when a larger number was found, would not be 
missed by the mother-bird. Sometimes, in- 
deed, a greed for rapid gains may have caused 
the depredators to quite overlook all consider- 
ations of cruelty; yet there was in general a 
strict adherence to the rule of mercy — they did 
not leave an empty nest behind them. Nor 
was the love of gain the only motive which led 
one to engage in these enterprises. Bird-nest- 
ing became a study and delight; the eye and 
the mind were fed and feasted on the beautiful 
speckled treasures which were found therein. 
The zeal and enjoyment which stimulated this 
pursuit soon secured to the enthusiast the larg- 
est and most varied collection in the whole 
neighborhood, of which he was not a little 
proud. In this work of egg-gathering very 
naturally the study of the position, form, and 
texture of the nests, and the shape and embel- 
lishment of the eggs, became matters of deep 



248 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

interest, creating a taste for these things which 
has never flagged through life. In this way, 
long before any treatises on ornithology had 
been read, quite an accurate knowledge of this 
department of natural history had been gained ; 
so that in most cases a sight of an egg was 
quite sufficient to determine the species of bird 
to which it belonged and the general condi- 
tions of the nest in which it was found. 

" One of these bird-nesting experiences will 
never be forgotten, because it was a most seri- 
ous matter at first, and has been a laughable 
reminiscence ever since. The day had been 
spent with more than usual success, and the 
homeward route was taken with a collection 
of speckled treasures richer than had ever be- 
fore been obtained. Like most suddenly-ac- 
quired riches, there was a little uneasiness of 
conscience as to some of the methods used in 
the acquisitions. Two rare nests had been 
found in the thick underbrush of the swamp, 
those of the blue-winged and the black-throat- 
ed warblers ; and the temptation was so great 
in one case that three out of the four eggs were 
taken as dainty trophies. Being so absorbed in 
collecting the treasures found, the passing hours 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 249 

were hardly noticed until attention was arrested 
by the gathering shades of evening. Making 
toward home with all possible speed, it was 
nevertheless quite dark when the new clearing 
was entered in the centre of which it stood. 
Just as the opening was reached, at a point 
where a number of fallen trees were yet lying, 
a hoarse sound seemed to come from near 
one of them that fairly curdled the blood. It 
seemed to the startled imagination like the 
suppressed groan of some one in great distress 
or the dread wail of some imp of darkness. 
Startled by the dread sound, a furtive glance was 
cast behind, when another groan sent the feet 
flying homeward with all possible speed. When 
safe within doors a graphic account of the dread 
encounter was given, but, instead of getting the 
expected sympathy, a hearty laugh at my ex- 
pense only added to my distress. After a tan- 
talizing of sufficient length, the more expe- 
rienced father said that the dread ghost would 
likely turn out to be only a harmless night- 
hawk that had a nest near at hand, and took this 
method to frighten away the intruder, in which 
the bird certainly was pre-eminently successful. 
An examination on the following day proved 



250 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

the truth of the surmise. Near one of the old 
logs the rude nest of the bull-bat was found, 
containing the usual two handsome speckled 
e gg s - This fright by the poor night-hawk has 
been of great use through life; for ever after, 
any unusual occurrence which might be tor- 
tured by ignorance into something dread or 
supernatural was carefully searched into, and 
generally with the same easy solution. 

" The special ends provided for in an egg are 
among the most striking and beautiful in Na- 
ture. To enable the young bird, at maturity, 
to break its way into the world, the shell must 
be capable of being easily broken from within ; 
but in making this provision a formation must 
be adopted that will sufficiently resist a force 
exerted in the opposite direction. And the egg 
completely meets these conditions. The oval 
shape secures the well-known strength of a 
tubular formation ; and every boy is familiar 
with the force it requires to break an egg when 
it is applied endwise. It is also seen that any 
shape giving edges or angles would be at once 
fatal to its safety ; but its elliptical form gives 
no salient points for injury or attack. Within, 
the egg is a perfect laboratory of chemical and 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 25 I 

vital wonders ; everything there is perfectly- 
adapted in essence and quality to the purpose 
intended. Surrounding these essential elements 
there is the delicate membrane which makes the 
porous shell impervious to all damp from with- 
out or an equally fatal leakage from within. In 
the centre of this marvellous storehouse hangs 
the living germ of the future bird, and all around 
is the exactly-measured provision for feeding 
the growing chick until the time of hatching, 
when every particle is consumed; the dead 
matter has entirely disappeared, and the per- 
fect living bird fills the place made vacant by 
its consumption. Surely no blind chance has 
been working at random here, but infinite and 
far-seeing skill. 

" The wisest philosopher, with the egg in his 
hand to examine and analyze, is entirely unable 
to compose a second egg; nay, indeed, he is 
confounded when he attempts to search out 
the mysteries of the one he is holding. It may 
seem somewhat extravagant, but certainly with 
some show of justification for the assertion, 
when Michelet, the enthusiastic writer on the 
bird, exclaims : * Speak not to me of suns, of 
elementary chemistry, of globes. The marvel 



252 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

of a humming-bird's egg transcends the Milky- 
Way !' You may reply with a sneer, 'Why, it 
is nothing but a tiny egg, not bigger than a 
pea, and it is absurd to make such a statement.' 
True, it is a wee thing, but then mystery is not 
measured by the yard nor estimated by its 
avoirdupois ; and sometimes the less the ob- 
ject, the greater the marvel which it reveals. 
In this view, the Frenchman's comparison is 
not so strained, after all. That little white 
ball contains not only a laboratory of chemical 
wonders, but also wraps up within its narrow 
dimensions the awful mystery of life — a life 
environed with marvellous conditions. 

" Let us look more carefully at some of these 
pearl palaces of the infant bird-races. 

" It is not often the case that the birds of the 
gaudiest plumage produce the handsomest eggs ; 
indeed, generally it is quite the reverse. As it 
is with the power of song, Nature has a nice dis- 
crimination in the application of her compen- 
sating laws, and never lavishes all her boun- 
ties on one subject or order. The ravenous 
birds are generally of the most sober colors, 
and their voices breathe only the harshest 
notes ; but examine their eggs, and they will 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 253 

be found among the handsomest both as to 
form and embellishment. 

"What wonderful and intelligent potencies 
' chance/ * evolution,' and ' natural selection ' 
must be, to so far outstrip the grandest exhi- 
bitions of reason — nay, to so adjust and enforce 
laws that the strongest minds, after years of 
zealous study, are unable to discover and ex- 
plain ! Are these the only factors which pro- 
duce the egg and push it on to its finished 
work ? Ah no ! 

1 Bird and beast and creeping thing, 
That tread the earth or spread the wing, 
Eternal power and goodness prove — 
A God to honor, praise, and love.' 

" Many pre-eminent gifts have been claimed 
for the birds, and some of the reasons for the 
claim have been presented. An additional 
proof of their superior endow r ments will be 
found in the ' gift of tongues ' and in the na- 
tural power of melody. They are truly sharers 
in angels' gifts — wings and song. In the whole 
range of animal life not one outside of the 
feathered tribes has ever acquired so much 

as a single word of human speech or breathed 
22 



254 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

a note of song. Even the animals that in other 
respects approximate nearest to his form and 
lineaments, and which have been claimed to be 
his progenitors, as the ourangs and gorillas, have 
utterly failed to pronounce the shibboleth that 
would justify a claim to kindredship. Nor 
have they ever given proof, by aught of ' oaten 
stop or pastoral song/ that they have any mu- 
sic in their souls. Their only claims to the 
high eminence demanded for them by their 
human admirers are based on a grotesque cari- 
cature of the human form ; and it may be also 
from an undue exhibition of animal depravity 
and love of mischief. They low and bray, 
bark and whine, roar and scream, as did their 
ancestors, pitched to the same harsh key, ex- 
pressive only of natural wants, fear, or defiance. 
" Language is the peculiar prerogative of 
man, but the birds have fairly trenched upon 
his high gifts and wrested some of his vocab- 
ulary from his exclusive use. As is well known, 
the parrots have not only been able to articulate 
words, but also to form them into intelligent 
sentences. They often use language timely and 
appropriate, apparently with conception more 
or less clear of the meaning of the words ut- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 255 

4 

tered. Were it thought necessary, abundant 
proof could be given of the truth of these state- 
ments ; but facts sufficient to substantiate the 
assertion have come under the notice of almost 
every observer, and evidence need not be am- 
plified. In personal experience, at least two 
instances of blue parrots have been met with 
capable of carrying on quite an intelligent con- 
versation, and not without some flashes of wit 
which showed a true appreciation of humor. 

" In song these gifted birds have proved 
themselves quite adepts. The faculty is not 
natural to them, as with thrush, sparrow, and 
finch, but they are apt pupils in the choral art. 
Parrots have been trained to sing with much 
correctness many simple melodies, as ' Days 
of Absence/ 'Auld Lang-Syne/ 'Old Dog 
Tray/ and similar airs. In one instance a par- 
rot belonging to a devout Methodist family, in 
whose house a class-meeting was held, became 
so familiar with some of the spiritual songs used 
on these occasions that it would join in with 
great glee ; but as it was not so careful as was 
requisite to regard the time, it became necessary 
to remove the bird when the meetings were 
held. This treatment poor Poll highly resent- 



25 6 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

ed by keeping up an unearthly screaming as 
long as the singing could be heard. 

" But, wonderful as are the acquisitions of 
the parrots, their abilities lack the spontaneity 
and sweetness of the natural singers of the 
grove — the thrushes, finches, and other mem- 
bers of the order of Oscines. Their exhibitions 
of skill are acquired, and, as all art is but an 
imitation of Nature, ever falls as short of per- 
fection as the shadow does of the substance, 
so does the chatter of the parrots fail to equal 
the vocal sweetness of the true singers. In- 
deed, the vocalization of man can hardly reach 
the melody of the bird in this regard. If the 
strains of the former were divested of the pow- 
er of expressing sentiment and emotion, as un- 
der the control of reason, the birds would carry 
off the palm of victory. Few, if any, will call 
in question this statement when listening, on a 
a bright spring morning, to the bird-melodies 
which greet the ear from grove and thicket 
when the first bright beams have 

e Touched the wood-bird's folded wing, 
And said, " O bird, awake and sing." ' 

" It has already been stated that birds of 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2$? 

plain feathers are compensated for the denial 
of personal beauty by the bestowal of the 
daintiest eggs. So the thrushes, larks, and 
finches are the most richly gifted of the feath- 
ered vocalists, though they are among the plain- 
est of the feathered tribes. But happy is their 
lot. Gaudy plumes only cover the outside, and 
often feed a strutting vanity, as in the peacock 
and turkey-cock, while song warms the heart 
of the singer and charms away the gloom of 
clouds and solitude. Vanity is earth-born ; 
song is celestial. The one leads to guilt; the 
other is the sweet natural outbreathing of de- 
votion, the language of praise and adoration. 

"The nightingale is one of the plainest of 
birds, but her song is so rich and spontaneous 
that her fame has been rehearsed in all climes 
where her melodies have enriched the groves 
and made them classic. It is to be regretted 
that some enthusiast has not before this domes- 
ticated this charming singer among our own 
gifted birds. Found in the three older conti- 
nents, there seems no just reason why the spe- 
cies should not take kindly to some sections at 
least of our wide and varied country. What 

a splendid rivalry might thus be awakened 
22 * R 



25 8 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

between this gifted foreigner and our equally 
brilliant mocking-bird ! and what a rich addi- 
tion to our already splendid repertory of bird- 
songs ! The same may be said of the skylark, 
whose sweet notes, and the peculiar manner in 
which they are uttered, have so charmed all 
listeners. Washington Irving, whose sense of 
the beautiful was so acute, said that he should 
never forget the delight he experienced the 
first time he saw the skylark start up from al- 
most beneath his feet and wing its way up to 
the very clouds, all the while pouring forth its 
delicious melody. It is said that this lark nev- 
er sings on the ground, but, taking its flight 
almost directly upward, it begins to sing from 
the first start, increasing its notes in power and 
as it gets nearer and nearer to the celestial 
source from whence its divine gift of song 
came. When the utmost altitude of flight is 
gained, and the wearied wing begins to yield 
to the downward pressure, the joyous gush is 
over, and the disappointed bird drops again in 
silence to the earth, as though saddened by its 
failure to gain the heights and associations 
which it sought. Who but could repeat the 
invocation of Shelley to this gifted bird-artist ? — 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 259 

' Better than all measures 
Of delightful sound, 
Better than all treasures 
That in books are found, 
Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground ! 

* Teach me half the gladness 
That thy brain must know, 
Such harmonious madness 
From my lips would flow, 
The world should listen then as I am listening now.' 

" Europe is especially blest in the number and 
excellence of its singing birds, many of which 
should long before this have been naturalized 
in our groves and fields ; but we must pass by 
others unnoticed, as there are many of our own 
sweet singers awaiting proper recognition. 

" If we must yield the palm to the nightin- 
gale and lark of the Old World on the score 
of sweetness, we can with perfect confidence 
assert the pre-eminence of our peerless mock- 
ing-bird for vivacity and variety. He is such 
a polyglot that it is hard to determine the key 
of his own natural song. So delicate is his ear, 
and so flexible and imitative his vocal organs, 
that so soon as he is able to chirp in his own 
proper cadences he catches up, with almost in- 



260 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

finite variations, the ' wood-notes wild ' of al- 
most every other singer in the vicinity. Nay, 
he does not stop with imitations of his feathered 
compeers, but repeats with equal facility and 
correctness all the sounds which come to his 
ear, whether from animate or inanimate sources. 
Robin and wren, thrush and sparrow, bluebird 
and lark, hawk and crow, hear their native 
tongues, whether in song or outcry, croak or 
scream, repeated with an exactness of modu- 
lation which deceives them all. When domes- 
ticated there are few sounds, in doors or out, 
which this bird will not aptly reproduce. He 
whistles and laughs in mimicry of his human 
neighbors ; mews and barks with cat and dog ; 
repeats the grinding of the coffee-mill or sharp 
crisp rip of the saw, and the hundred and one 
other varied sounds of a busy household. Mr. 
Wilson, in his fascinating book on birds, thus 
sets forth the marvellous ability of this delight- 
ful woodland vocalist : 

" ' In his native groves, mounted on the top 
of a tall bush or half-grown tree, in the dawn 
of dewy morning, while the woods are already 
vocal with a multitude of warblers, his admir- 
able song rises pre-eminent over every compe- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 26 1 

titor. The ear can listen to his music alone, to 
which that of all others seems a mere accom- 
paniment. Neither is this strain altogether 
imitative. His own native notes, which are 
easily distinguishable by such as are well ac- 
quainted with those of our various song-birds, 
are bold and full, and varied seemingly without 
limits. They consist of short expressions of 
two, three, or, at most, five or six, syllables, 
generally interspersed with imitations, and all 
of them uttered with great emphasis and ra- 
pidity, and continued with undiminished ardor 
for half an hour or an hour at a time. His 
expanded wings and tail, glistening with white, 
and the buoyant gayety of his action, arresting 
the eye, as his song does most irresistibly the 
ear, he sweeps round with enthusiastic ecstasy ; 
he mounts and descends as his song swells or 
dies away ; and, as my friend, Mr. Bartram, has 
beautifully expressed it, " he bounds aloft with 
the celerity of an arrow, as if to recover or re- 
call his very soul, expired in the last elevated 
strain." While thus exerting himself a by- 
stander destitute of sight would suppose that 
the whole feathered tribes had assembled to- 
gether on a trial of skill, each striving to pro- 



262 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

duce his utmost effect, so perfect are his imita- 
tions. He many times deceives the sportsman, 
and sends him in search of birds that perhaps 
are not within miles of him, but whose notes 
he exactly imitates ; even birds themselves are 
frequently imposed upon by this admirable 
mimic, and are decoyed by his fancied calls of 
their mates, or dive with precipitation into the 
depths of thickets at the scream of what they 
suppose to be the sparrow-hawk. 

" ' The mocking-bird loses little of the power 
and energy of his song by confinement. In his 
domesticated state, when he commences his ca- 
reer of song, it is impossible to stand by unin- 
terested. He whistles for the dog ; Caesar starts 
up, wags his tail, and runs to meet his master. 
He squeaks out like a hurt chicken, and the hen 
hurries about with hanging wings and bristled 
feathers, clucking to protect its injured brood. 
The barking of the dog, the mewing of the cat, 
the creaking of a passing wheelbarrow, follow 
with great truth and rapidity. He repeats the 
tune taught him by his master, though of con- 
siderable length, fully and faithfully. He runs 
over the quiverings of the canary and the clear 
whistlings of the Virginia nightingale, or red- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 263 

bird, with such superior execution and effect 
that the mortified songsters feel their own infe- 
riority, and become altogether silent, while he 
seems to triumph in their defeat by redoubling 
his exertions/ 

" We can bear ample testimony to the truth- 
fulness of this description from repeated exhi- 
bitions of a similar character witnessed during 
a residence in the South and South-west; and 
can there be one so dull as not to find special 
enjoyment in such communings with Nature? 
Alas for such ! They will never understand 
why Audubon, Wilson, Agassiz, and many oth- 
ers could put aside moneyed inducements and 
forsake the refinements and comforts of society 
for the rough camp in the woods and mountains, 
in order to meet their favorites in their native 
haunts. 

" One other trait of the mocking-bird must 
be referred to before he is dismissed from no- 
tice — his evident love of waggery, as shown by 
his practical jokes. As, for instance, hid in some 
close thicket or treetop, he will imitate the love- 
calls of the neighboring birds until he has filled 
the surroundings of his concealment with scores 
of amorous dupes, peeping with awakened curi- 



264 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

osity for the hidden charmer, when shriek after 
shriek, in the fiercest tones of some ravenous 
bird, sets them all flying in the utmost terror 
from the supposed terrible enemy. When the 
cunning deception has been successfully accom- 
plished, no one can doubt the rich enjoyment of 
the wag who has ever beheld him coming from 
his hiding-place, and, in the very ecstasy of de- 
light, flitting from limb to limb, fluttering his 
wings and chattering — or, indeed, fairly laugh- 
ing — at his frightened dupes. One cunning old 
bird was observed to repeat these feats of de- 
ception and waggery almost every day during 
an entire summer, leaving no doubt in the mind 
of the deeply-interested observer that they were 
deliberately planned and carried out, and that 
they were enjoyed by the wily bird with the 
keenest zest. 

"The well-known catbird, a first cousin of 
the mocking-bird, has no mean vocal powers. 
Indeed, an old male bird will sometimes fairly 
rival his more gifted relative in everything but 
his marvels of mimicry. By the lover of bird- 
melodies his return is ever hailed with a glad 
welcome. 

" The dainty little canary must not be omitted 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 265 

in our list of song-birds. Once confined to the 
narrow boundaries of a few islands of the sea, 
his musical gifts have made him cosmopolitan. 
In the line of melody he is an adept, while in 
the spontaneity and brilliancy of his style he is 
unsurpassed. He is the only one of our true 
song-birds that seems to take kindly to captiv- 
ity, and therefore is justly the universal favorite 
among cage-birds. 

" The delicious robin-music which greets the 
earliest beams of morning, and that floats again 
on the evening air, is a joy of song that has 
thrilled every ear that can be moved by ' con- 
cord of sweet sounds.' 

"The softer, shorter, but equally delicious 
notes of the bluebirds, warblers, wrens, and 
larks fill up the rich choruses of our landscapes, 
which altogether make up a benison of beauty 
and sweetness that should make every devout 
heart thankful. 

" Hitherto, in tracing out the wonderful and 
the beautiful in Nature, evidence has been fol- 
lowed which carried the observation downward, 
where the wisdom and power of God have been 
revealed in marvels of design and workmanship, 
and his condescending goodness in provisions 

23 



266 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

to satisfy soul and sense. But in our last study 
of birds the pathway of research has been re- 
versed. Wings have given an impulsion sky- 
ward, and song has led us up higher still, near, 
very near, to the gates within which they are 
praising God day and night for ever and ever ; 
and the echo which comes down to us from the 
white-robed throng of worshippers blends with 
the anthems of earth's winged singers, and the 
glorious refrain to the blended songs of heaven 
and earth is, ' Let everything that hath breath 
praise the Lord!' " 



CHAETER XVI. 

HIGHER AND BRIGHTER, OR THE FIRST 
AERIAL ROUND. 

COME professional duties having required 
^ the absence of Doctor Dean, there was an 
interruption of the weekly conversations, and 
the young men were left to spend their time as 
they felt disposed, which they did with rod, 
gun, and sketch-books, making extensive ram- 
bles through the neighboring forests. On Mr. 
Dean's return he found that the work had so 
far advanced at the brown cottage that it was 
now ready to receive its new owners. Hence 
it became one of his most agreeable duties to 
apprise them of their good-fortune, and to in- 
form them that a few of the neighbors would 
come on the following day to move them into 
their new home. We shall leave it to the im- 
agination of the reader to picture the surprise 
and joy which this news carried to the poor 
sufferers across the lake. Sufficient to state 

267 



268 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

that when the deed was placed in their hands 
it was a long time before the mother and Alice 
could be made to understand that the matter 
was a substantial reality — that the paper placed 
in their keeping was a bond-fide deed of the 
pretty brown cottage, all neatly furnished for 
their immediate occupancy. When it was all 
fully comprehended, they were fairly dazed 
with joy, while their tears and thanks be- 
came so profuse that Doctor Dean was fain 
to withdraw to avoid the overstrain of his 
own sympathies. 

Now, it so happened that the two young 
friends were fishing on this selfsame day on 
the shore near the widow's cabin ; and as Mil- 
ton had been so much engaged as to prevent 
any arrangements for the intended visit, and 
their vacation was nearing its close, it was 
thought best to waive all formality and call at 
the Farleys' before they recrossed the lake. 
Accordingly, they landed near by, and were 
soon at the door of the shanty seeking admit- 
tance. As they entered they were at once 
aware that something unusual was taking place. 
The mother was seated by the lounge on which 
reclined her afflicted daughter, both locked in a 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 269 

close embrace, Mrs. Farley holding a large envel- 
ope in her hands. As they stepped back, fearing 
that they were intruding on some family scene 
which should be kept sacred from strangers, the 
daughter arrested their steps by saying, 

" Don't be frightened, gentleman, but please 
help yourselves to seats, for mother and I are 
so happy just now as to be a little flighty, I 
fear." 

" Happy !" cried the mother, while both voice 
and frame were tremulous with emotion — 
" happy ! yes, thrice happy ! ' Bless the Lord, 
O my soul ; and all that is within me, bless his 
holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and 
forget not all his benefits. I will sing unto the 
Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise unto 
my God while I have my being,' ' who remem- 
bered us in our low estate : for his mercy en- 
dureth for ever!' — See this, gentlemen," she 
cried, putting the deed into their hands — " see 
this ! We have a home once more, paid for 
and furnished, and to-morrow we are to move 
into it. — Oh, Alice, my child ! my child !" she 
cried as she pressed her frail form to her bosom, 
" we have a home once more — a home ! a ho — " 
and then her voice failed her from excess of joy. 



27O THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

" Excuse us, gentlemen," said Alice ; " the 
news has been so sudden, and the transition so 
complete, as to put us quite off from our bal- 
ance. It was only this morning that we almost 
gave up in despair. The cold weather is com- 
ing on, and we well knew that neither mother 
nor myself could live through the winter in this 
place, but how to secure a more comfortable 
abode we knew not. The poorhouse seemed 
to be the only way of escape left us ; it was a 
terrible alternative, worse than would have been 
the grave, to which I began to look as the only 
refuge from suffering. But while we were yet 
talking of the dark prospect, our dear, good 
friend, Doctor Dean, came and put this paper 
in our hands; and do you wonder at our joy? 
Just think of it ! We have a ' home, sweet 
home,' once more; and oh, may all the bless- 
ings which Heaven has to bestow fall with un- 
ceasing richness upon the kind friends who 
have done this deed of kindness to us ! Oh, 
sirs, may you never know the pangs which we 
have suffered, but I wish you could realize a 
share of the happiness which we now feel ; for 
I am sure that nothing this side of heaven can 
be sweeter, except the pleasure which they 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 27 1 

must know who have done this heaven-like 
deed of kindness. Oh, that we knew who they 
are, that we might try and thank them for what 
they have done ! But it would only be to try, 
for no language can express our deep grati- 
tude." 

" Yes," cried the mother, who had aroused 
again, " if the gratitude of a mother's heart and 
the unceasing prayer of a widow's lips will bring 
any blessing upon their pathway, then will they 
have a rich inheritance ; and surely, ' Blessed is 
he that considereth the poor ; the Lord will de- 
liver him in time of trouble. The Lord will 
preserve him, and keep him alive ; and he shall 
be blessed upon the earth.' " 

We may have some conceptions of the emo- 
tions experienced by the young visitors during 
the passing of this scene ; but it was plain that 
they were of a character to forbid long endur- 
ance ; and so Davidson whispered to his friend, 
saying, 

" Lew, this is too much ; let us get out of 
this soon, or I shall break down." 

It was evident that Rudolph was in the same 
state of mind as his friend, for he at once as- 
sented to the proposal to withdraw. Either by 



272 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

agreement or tacitly, Davidson turned to Alice, 
and as he hastily said good-bye left a ten-dollar 
gold-piece in her hand, while Rudolph did the 
same by the mother ; and both were out of the 
door before either recipient could fully realize 
what had transpired. 

When once more by themselves it was some 
time before either could get self-control enough 
to give expression to his pent-up feelings. 
Finally, Rudolph broke the silence by asking, 

" Well, Charley, what do you think of this 
day's experience? Do you expect that a few 
hundred dollars will ever pay you such a rich 
dividend as has your last investment?" 

" Pray, Lew," was the emphatic answer, 
" don't use that term in such a connection. The 
prayers and blessings of two such women are be- 
yond all human estimate ; and I will confess that, 
though I am not a professor nor a possessor of 
their faith, I believe that still richer blessings 
will come in response to their supplication." 

" I do believe you, Charley," was the reply ; 
11 but, whether that may be true or not, one 
thing is certain : I have never experienced any 
happiness compared with that I have this day 
felt; and the transaction fully settles my mind 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2J$ 

as to the truths of the Christian religion as a 
guide in the pursuits of this life and an inspira- 
tion of the hopes in that which is to come. 
These facts of experience, Charley, have quite 
disposed of your logic, and you may have no 
more fears of my backsliding." 

" Well, Lew," said Davidson, " there is some 
prospect that we may not turn out such great 
heathens, after all ; but whether our improvement 
is most owing to Doctor Dean's teachings, or to 
our transactions with the widow and her angelic 
daughter, is not so clear. And, by the by, Lew, 
the success of our investment in this matter has 
settled my purpose to make another venture in 
the same direction. The poor sufferer Alice 
may not be beyond all hopes of restoration 
under the influence of skilful treatment and 
good nursing, and before I leave I shall author- 
ize Doctor Dean to employ all possible means 
to effect such a result." 

" Good for you, chum !" was the answer, " and 
if you will allow any partnership I will gladly 
take a share in the enterprise." 

"No, thank you, Lew," said Davidson. "I 
know it would be a pleasure for you to aid in 
this good work, but this can be no partnership 

s 



274 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

business ; I shall claim exclusive privileges in 
this instance." 

" All right !" was the response. " I rather 
expected that you would be a little selfish in 
this matter; and may God give you complete 
success I" 

When in the evening they met for the usual 
conversation they said nothing of the day's oc- 
currences. 

" In our lesson to-night," said Doctor Dean, 
" we shall pass the more familiar works of crea- 
tion as seen in the animal races, and keep our 
feet on the ascending ladder. The flight of the 
birds left us in the air, and there we will hunt 
for our next beautiful round. 

" In following the ascending scale of creative 
wisdom and goodness the last study left us far 
above terrestial belongings, with a strong desire 
for still higher revelations. With faces thus 
turned upward, we desire nearer and clearer 
views of the heavens that ' declare his glory ' 
and the firmament that ' showeth his handiwork/ 
How sublimely true and grand are these divine 
statements, whether we consider the seen or the 
unseen glories which environ and canopy us ! 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2?$ 

Chemistry never applied its searching tests to 
a more wonderful compound than that which 
makes up the air we inhale, nor were there ever 
such glories filling mortal vision as those which 
Jehovah spreads in living colors of light over 
the cloudy canvas of the skies. 

" Let any mind possessed of less than infinite 
wisdom attempt the composition of an atmo- 
sphere that shall be so ethereal as to penetrate 
the hardest substances, and yet so substantial 
as to furnish the material for all vegetable life 
and the vital nourishment of the animal king- 
dom. It must be so clear that it will not ob- 
struct the vision ; so attenuated that it will not 
baffle sound nor obstruct motion ; and so pure 
that it can pass into the lungs and all parts of 
the animal system without pain or poison. 
Where would man find the elements for such 
a marvellous provision? And if found, who 
could write .out the wonderful recipe, fixing the 
exact equivalents, and tempering all with such 
certainty that they will be proof against all the 
influences of earth's changes ? The least lack 
or disproportion, and how terribly fatal ! — burned 
up or blown up, poisoned or dissolved, reduced 
to cinder and ashes or transformed into a pun- 



276 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

gent liquid, according as oxygen, nitrogen, or 
carbonic acid gas might be more or less domi- 
nant. Chemically or optically considered, no 
greater wonder ever comes under observation 
than the atmosphere. Chemistry deals with 
no greater marvel, nor does the eye ever look 
upon sights so transcendently sublime as those 
which blazon the morning and evening clouds. 
" The atmosphere is as absolutely a substance 
as the rocks on which we tread ; and, indeed, 
one essential element of the air, oxygen, makes 
up one half of the material globe. The differ- 
ence is simply that in the rocks oxygen is 
chemically combined with other elements, while 
in the air it is only diffused. And how infinite 
wisdom and goodness shine conspicuous in 
these conditions — the Omnipotence that keeps 
them intact ! In one state God uses the gas 
to build the rocky foundations of the globe, 
and in the other gives the breath of life to all 
creatures that dwell upon the face of the earth. 
Chemically, nothing is more prompt and fierce 
in action than oxygen ; it rushes with fiery im- 
petuosity into the embraces of every substance 
for which it has an affinity, but to its antag- 
onisms it as stubbornly resists all fellowship, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2^ 

putting as much space between them and itself 
as possible. To restrain its fierceness, God di- 
lutes the quantity diffused over the surface of 
the earth with more than two-thirds as much of 
an inert gas, equally as repellant as the other. 
Composed of these elements, the air comes with 
a soft and delicate quickening to the panting 
lungs, truly the God-given breath of life to 
man. 

" Free, the gases composing the atmosphere 
have a tenuity so fine that all means used to 
detect the ultimate molecule have utterly failed ; 
yet they are so infinite in number, and have 
such a capacity of expansion, that they envelop 
the surface of the globe to a depth of forty or 
more miles. Soft and yielding, as we who 
move through them and inhale them with every 
breath know they are, yet their power of resist- 
ance to changes of temperature and pressure 
are wonderful almost beyond conception. In- 
deed, it was thought until quite recently that 
it was impossible to modify their gaseous con- 
ditions. 

"We knew that the atmosphere exerts a 
pressure equal to sixteen pounds to the square 
inch, and that some of the gases had been 

24 



278 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

liquefied by the extremes of cold and enor- 
mous pressure; but it was not until the year 
1878 that oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen were 
changed by the experiments of chemists from 
their gaseous conditions into liquids. This 
transformation required not less than the pres- 
sure of three hundred and twenty atmospheres, 
or more than five thousand pounds to the square 
inch, accompanied by a degree of cold equally 
as phenomenal. The number of cubic feet of 
these gases which can be compressed into the 
space of a square inch or two is wonderful. 
The facts above stated prove that the air we 
breathe is as absolutely material as the ever- 
lasting hills, the difference in density being one 
of the sublime marvels of Jehovah's goodness. 
In one condition, the rock-ribbed earth is bound 
in adamant; and in the other, the elements are 
loosed to go freely forth and give vitality to all 
who inhale them. The same infinite benevo- 
lence which first composed the wonderful aerial 
investiture of the earth is equally seen in its fix- 
ed and perpetual conditions. Cold or hot, wet or 
dry, calm or stormy, the atmosphere keeps its 
essentials exactly balanced, and thus secures the 
safety of all who inhale the breath of life. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 279 

" The processes of Nature are based upon 
grand laws of reciprocation and compensation, 
giving and taking as each may require, and 
ever keeping an evenly-balanced scale. She 
commits no frauds, nor enters into any wars 
for robbery or reprisals ; she pays as she goes, 
and meets all drafts on her resources as soon 
as due. All this is true, because ' his work is 
perfect' who made all for his own glory, and 
who hath said, ' My glory will I not give to 
another, neither my praise to graven images/ 

" Thus far, only the fixed elements of the 
atmosphere have been considered, leaving it 
yet incomplete for its divinely-intended purpose. 
[n this state the earth would be surrounded 
by a viewless ocean of gas, through which the 
sun's rays would pass with unobstructed fervor, 
scorching with intense heat everything upon 
which they fell. Neither plant nor animal 
could exist under such fiery conditions. There 
must be some special provision to soften the 
solar beams as they draw near to the earth's 
surface, and quench something of their fierce- 
ness ; and what finite mind could meet such 
contingencies? But with God nothing is per- 
plexing or impossible. Listen to the sublime 



280 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

fiat of the Almighty, which brings forth and 
potentializes the grand requisites : ' And God 
said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of 
the water, and let it divide the waters from the 
waters. And God made the firmament, and 
divided the waters which were under the fir- 
mament from the waters which were above 
the firmament; and it was so.' The waters 
below were the great primal ocean, and the 
waters above, the i thick clouds of the sky.' 
And what arm save that of Omnipotence could 
lift up this aerial ocean and send its cloudy 
waves surging over the whole face of the earth ? 
Let it be remembered that water is more than 
eight hundred times heavier than air, and its 
pressure gives one of the mightiest forces 
known. By what machinery can the incom- 
prehensible billions of tons of water be raised 
miles above the surface of the earth and held 
there floating in wreaths of vapory beauty? 
Eight parts of water, by volume, is composed 
of hydrogen gas, the lightest of known sub- 
stances, and God bids his great sun-force to 
touch the invisible molecules of hydrogen, and 
they at once expand into balloons sixteen hun- 
dred times larger than they were before; and 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 28 1 

thus there is continually shooting up from every 
ocean-surface an infinite number of these tiny 
watery globes to diffuse themselves among the 
fixed gases of the atmosphere, forming vapor 
of water. Unlike the elements among which 
these watery globes mingle, the moisture of 
the air constantly varies in form and quantity 
as circumstance may require, now condensed 
into storm-clouds, pregnant with thunderbolts 
and falling torrents, and now distilling in gen- 
tle summer rains or evening dews. Its form 
changes from the liquid drop into the driving 
hail or the fall of fleecy snow. How marvel- 
lous the work ! and how sublimely expressed 
in the inspired word ! — ' When God uttereth his 
voice he causeth the vapors to ascend from the 
earth/ and ' there is a multitude of water in the 
heavens.* % He bindeth up the waters in his 
thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under 
them.' 'Dost thou know the balancing of the 
clouds, the wonderful work of him who is per- 
fect in knowledge?' 

11 Considered simply as to intricacy of design 
and perfection of accomplishment, the atmo- 
sphere is perhaps the grandest exhibition of 
creative wisdom. It has ever been one of the 

24* 



282 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

most fascinating studies to the scientist, and is 
as rich a marvel to-day as ever ; and what other 
strange secrets it has, with which to reward the 
searcher, time alone can determine. 

" Considered only in a material point of view, 
the adjustment of the atmosphere is a gift wor- 
thy of the divine Hand that bestowed it. It is 
the breath of every living thing and the essen- 
tial of all vegetable growth. It comes with 
health-throbbings to the lungs, and fills our 
barns with plenty: Yea, thou hast visited the 
earth, and watered it from thy chambers; thou 
greatly enrichest it ; the river of God is full of 
water ; thou waterest the mountains abundantly ; 
yea, thou makest the earth soft with showers ; 
thou blessest the springing thereof; thou crown- 
est the year with thy goodness, and thy paths 
drop fatness. 

" But let it not be forgotten that the present 
study has a higher purpose than filling barn 
and stomach ; the craving immortal soul is 
awaiting gratification. Our look is upward, and 
with such aspirations the storehouse is forgot- 
ten. The treasures now sought are undefiled 
by touch of earthly interest ; they are reserved 
in heaven, and we are now seeking a foretaste of 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 283 

our future inheritance by looking after those 
things which redound to the 'praise of his 
glory ' who giveth the ' spirit of wisdom and 
revelation in the knowledge of him * who would 
thus make us ' know what is the hope of his 
calling, and what the riches of the glory of his 
inheritance in the saints, and what the ex- 
ceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who 
believe, according to the working of his mighty 
power.' 

" Dropping,, therefore, the consideration of 
the utility of the atmosphere as being beneath 
our feet, let the contemplation be fixed on the 
glory and beauty which God has spread over 
the heavens above, the ' thick canopy of clouds/ 
the splendors of the ' bow of promise/ and the 
emblazoned purple and gold of the morning 
and evening skies. 

" No eye is so dull as not to cast a wonder- 
ing gaze at the glories that spread over the 
skies at the rising of the sun and hang over 
the west at its setting ; and that heart must in- 
deed be of cloddish mould wherein strange and 
deep emotions are not found upspringing at these 
contemplations. Alas ! alas ! how few ever be- 
come so impressed with the benevolence of him 



284 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

who spread so much of his own glory over the 
face of the heavens as to be thrilled with the 
vision ! 

" The dull gray atmosphere which sometimes 
environs the earth gives assurance that exist- 
ence is possible under such cheerless condi- 
tions. Clouds might form without a ray of 
silver lining, coronal of gold, or purple drap- 
ing ; rains might descend from the swart thun- 
derclouds with no beautiful ' bow of hope ' 
spreading over their lightning-rent faces to as- 
sure the earth that God had not forgotten his 
promise when giving such fearful proof of his 
power. The morning might have- been cheer- 
less, and the evening portentously gloomy — the 
one only calling forth to toil, and the other re- 
lieving from it by shrouding the weary earth in 
darkness and apprehension. These might have 
been earth's conditions, either by want of fore- 
sight or ability to provide for a brighter or hap- 
pier adjustment; but, praise be to the adorable 
Creator ! these are not the conditions under 
which we dwell. The rainbow is on the face 
of the storm-cloud, orient beams beautify the 
morning, and a radiance of surpassing grand- 
eur hangs over the setting sun — a sublime in- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 285 

timation of the august scene when he who 
makes the whirlwind his chariot shall come 
1 in the clouds of heaven with power and great 
glory.' 

" Philosophy comes with prisms and angles, 
talking very learnedly about vibrations, analysis, 
refraction, and how the bow is spread upon the 
threatening cloud ; but it points out no pledge 
of divine remembrance, nor shows a single ray 
of that brightest of all reflections, the ineffable 
Love that said, ' Let there be light,' and at 
whose bidding i there went up a mist from the 
earth ' to make it fruitful, and furnish the vapor- 
ous canvas whereon he might reflect something 
of his own glory. The watery prisms of the 
cloud analyze the light-rays before they reach 
the earth, that they may carry with them the 
illuminated pledge of Infinite Goodness. 

" There may be occasions when it may not 
be profane to touch the rainbow with a chem- 
ical hand, but it should ever be after the heart 
has glowed with the incense of gratitude and 
love ; and the tongue should be vocal with 
praise to the Giver before it describes the na- 
ture of the gift. ' And God said, This is the 
token of the covenant which I make between 



286 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

me and you and every living creature that is 
with you, for perpetual generations : I do set 
my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a 
token of a covenant between me and the earth. 
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud 
over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the 
cloud ; and I will remember my covenant, which 
is between me and you and every living creature 
of all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud, 
and I will look upon it, that I may remember 
the everlasting covenant between God and ev- 
ery living creature of all flesh that is upon the 
earth.' 

" Oh, beautiful aerial pledge of Jehovah's 
mercy and gracious remembrance ! how can 
one behold thee and not look higher than thy 
glowing arch ? How can one delight in thy 
splendors, and not adore him who gave so 
brilliant a token to indicate the brighter glories 
and the infinite love of him who has a ' rain- 
bow round about the throne ' whereon he sits. 

" Dark as the storm-cloud may be, and fierce 
as is the lightning-shaft with deep bellowing 
thunder, who would not thank him who spreads 
over the threatening elements so grand and bril- 
liant a token of his mercy and guardianship ? 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 287 

* Triumphal arch, that fillest the sky 
When storms prepare to part, 
I ask not proud Philosophy . 
To tell me what thou art. 
* * * * 

For, faithful to its sacred page, 

Heaven still rebuilds thy span, 
Nor lets the type grow pale with age' 

That first spoke peace to man.' 

" When the scientist has succeeded in analyz- 
ing a ray of the sun's light, he finds spread on 
his screen the seven colors of the rainbow, and 
has discovered one of the wonderful laws of 
light; but his lesson too often ends just where 
it ought to begin. Reflection and refraction are 
but properties of light, and light-waves are the 
resultant of force ; and these, acting together at 
a favorable juncture, produce the beautiful aerial 
phenomenon of the rainbow. But what are the 
laws of matter and the impact of force but the 
outworkings of a divine and benevolent intelli- 
gence ? To comprehend the measure of these 
heavenly gifts a more careful observation must 
be given to some of the conditions involved. 
Think, on the one hand, of the fierce red light- 
shafts that would shoot, with inconceivable 
speed, from the sun, like fiery arrows of death, 



288 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

if there were no vapory atmosphere to soften 
its beams ; and, on the other hand, of the dull 
metallic gray clouds that would mantle the 
earth if reflection and refraction did not dif- 
fuse the light and paint on the vapory canvas 
their resplendent aerial pictures. What the 
flowers are to the fields and the birds to the 
groves, such are the rainbows and sunsets to 
the heavenly landscapes — God's grace informs 
of beauty and loveliness to teach us the higher 
and spiritual purposes of Nature. 

" The essential material wants of man are 
but few, and supplied with comparative ease 
by the ever-bountiful hand of God. A flock 
of sheep or a field of corn, an animal's skin or 
a coarse garment, a hut of bark or blocks of 
snow, and man can live. 

1 Man wants but little here below, 
Nor wants that little long.' 

Turn now to the higher and more gracious pro- 
vision for awaking the soul to impulses of de- 
light and gratitude. In this God-like benevo- 
lence, how numberless and varied are the ob- 
jects ! 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 289 

'Thou art, God, the life and light 
Of all this wondrous world we see; 

Its glow by day, its smile by night, 
Are but reflections caught from thee; 

Where'er we turn thy glories shine, 

And all things fair and bright are thine.' 

"These divine tracings have been found gem- 
ming the rocks and sands, the ooze of ocean- 
bed and slimy pond ; they abound in plants and 
animals, and float on the wings of bird and but- 
terfly ; and in grander displays we now contem- 
plate them canopying the earth and spread all 
over the heavens. And still, as we stretch the 
gaze up toward the celestial world, where the 
great Giver of all this grandeur and glory 
dwells in light unapproachable, the pathway 
grows brighter and brighter, until it shall end 
in the presence of him who prayed, ' Father, I 
will that those whom thou hast given me be 
with me where I am, that they may behold my 
glory which thou hast given me.' 

" Continuing the inspection of atmospheric 
phenomena, the halo arrests attention. Less 
.brilliant in colors, and unassociated with the 
divine promise of remembrance, it is neverthe- 
less, in some respects, of surpassing grandeur 
25 T 



29O THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

from its richer completeness and its wintry- 
background of snow and icy particles. Of rare 
occurrence, and confined to the more northern- 
regions, it meets the eyes of the snow-bound 
inhabitants of those latitudes with a beauty and 
sublimity that must go far to reconcile them to 
their inhospitable climate. 

" The halo is often . seen in one or more per- 
fect circles, with broken reflections at the top 
and base, and cross-bands of light through the 
centre. Try and imagine the exquisite picture. 
Beneath, lie the unbroken fields of snow; and 
above, the stainless masses of cirrus clouds are 
wreathed and motionless, as though some great 
spotless bird was presenting its white downy 
breast to the warm light of the descending sun. 
Gently, as though fearing to disturb the celes- 
tial bird, the soft shades of green, yellow, and 
red begin to appear in perfect circles, growing 
brighter and brighter until they reach the per- 
fection in which they are so often seen, and 
seen never to be forgotten. 

" Smaller, but often nearly as perfect and 
beautiful, the parhelia, or mock suns, are ob- 
served to the right and left of the sun. These 
beautiful phenomena occur much nearer the me- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 29 1 

ridian than the halos, and have therefore gratified 
and delighted more observers than the former. 

" These glories of the atmosphere, however, 
are only occasional, and the last two mentioned 
so rare and local that few have ever enjoyed 
the opportunity of observing them; but there 
are aerial splendors which enrapture all eyes 
and give daily evidence of the divine goodness. 
The glories of morning and evening are God's 
benedictions to man, teaching him, as he looks 
upward to the radiant clouds, that the glory on 
the face of the heavens is but a feeble reflec- 
tion of him who reigns above them. Having 
received the ascending Lord and wrapped him 
from human sight, and destined to restore him 
again to the expecting saints clothed with greater 
power and glory, the clouds seem to glow with 
unceasing emulation to reflect as much as pos- 
sible of the glory of him who -will make them 
his throne. Thus do they often quicken the 
hearts of those who are to be the recipients 
and sharers of the transcendent blessedness of 
his presence, where there is ' no need of the 
sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the 
glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is 
the light thereof.' 



292 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

' When day, with farewell beam, delays 
Among the opening clouds of even, 
And we can almost think we gaze 

Through golden vistas into heaven, 
Those hues that mark the sun's decline, 
So soft, so radiant, Lord, are thine !' 

" When the dark and damp hours of night 
have hung gloomily over the earth, and the 
longing thoughts reach forward for the return 
of light, how greatly is the blessing enhanced 
by the radiance which overspreads the east as 
the herald of its coming ! What an entrancing 
spectacle, to watch the transition from darkness 
to the full blaze of morning — first the earliest 
rosy tintings, then passing into soft silvery rays, 
growing brighter and brighter, longer and long- 
er, until every shadow flees away and the whole 
landscape is glowing in the full refulgence of 
day ! No wonder that at such a transition bird- 
songs fill the air with melody, the voices of 
flocks and herds have a cheerful tone, and the 
joyful whistle of the swain is heard as he 
'drives his team afield,' while 

* The milkmaid singeth blithely, 

And the mower whets his scythe. , 

" The brightness of the morning gives place 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 293 

to the ever-varying atmospheric changes of the 
day. If clear, the soft blue mist hangs along 
the mountain-slopes and distant hills, lending 
1 enchantment to the view ' and mitigating the 
glare of the noonday. Perchance, great fleets 
of fleecy clouds lie slumberous along the hori- 
zon, or darkly sweep over the heavens and fly 
on the wings of the wind, hurtling against each 
other, and thunder-rent amid the crash and roar 
of heaven's artillery. What sights for the aston- 
ished eyes and the vivid imagination ! What a 
relief are these constant variations and atmo- 
spheric changes to the fierce solar light and heat, 
and also to the monotonous blue of the bare 
skies ! 

" But it is when the glare of day is past, and 
storms have ceased to rage, and evening calm- 
ness approaches, that God's great benison of 
the clouds is revealed. What a sweet change 
from the fierce red rays of the noontide when 
mellow evening begins its gorgeous illumina- 
tion ! All Nature seems to grow tranquil un- 
der the influence, as though conscious that a 
heavenly vision is about to greet the earth. 
The winds cease to rage, bird and beast put on 
a gentler mood, and the pensive landscape seems 

25* 



294 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

to wait with conscious joy the celestial over- 
shadowing. 

" Of all earthly magnificence, the gorgeous 
summer sunsets have furnished the sublimest 
scenes for contemplation, and given to the im- 
agination its grandest field of enjoyment. Earth 
has no splendor worthy of comparison, and the 
enraptured beholder can only on the wings of 
imagination ascend above the glowing clouds 
and picture the glories of the celestial world. 
What strange and sudden transitions are seen in 
the evening clouds as each new angle of light 
marks the declining sun! And when the last 
beam fades away, it is like the dropping of a ce- 
lestial curtain, hiding a scene that is seemingly 
rather of heaven than of earth. A summer 
sunset is a spectacle that surpasses description, 

1 And who would that expound which words transcends 
Must talk in vain.' 

u As we have looked upon the glowing heav- 
ens we beheld 

' The splendid scenery of the sky, 
Where through a sapphire sea the sun 
Sails like a golden galleon 4 

Toward yonder cloudland in the west, 
Toward yonder Islands of the Blest.' 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 295 

" Bless God for the gift of eyes, and for the 
spectacle of unearthly beauty which he spreads 
over the heavens ; but if the glory which fills 
the eyes does not awaken gratitude within the 
heart, the heavens should rebuke us for our 
dulness. 

"But 

1 Now comes still evening on, and twilight gray 
Hath all things in its sober livery clad.' 

The sun is down, and the glory that so recently 
made gorgeous the west has faded away ; and 
has the hand that traced the wondrous pictures 
and hung them over the evening skies ex- 
hausted its skill in the effort, and left the night 
to gloom and darkness ? No ; the same good- 
ness that gilded the morning and purpled the 
setting sun has put upon the brow of night a 
' crown of glory ' and a i diadem of beauty/ 
that he might give us ' songs in the night/ In 
our next study let us try to get the keynote of 
this night-cheering anthem. 

" In bidding you good-night," added Doctor 
Dean, " I have the pleasure of inviting you to 
the brown cottage to-morrow evening to give a 
welcome to its new tenants." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

GLIMPSES FROM THE TOPMOST TERRES- 
TRIAL ROUND. 

I ^OR reasons which will be obvious to the 
•*- reader, Davidson and Rudolph did not 
attend the moving of the widow into her new 
home; and so at their next meeting Doctor 
Dean said : 

" As you were not at the moving of the Far- 
leys, I must discharge a commission which I 
received from the widow and daughter to thank 
you in their behalf for your very generous do- 
nation the other day. It was much of a sur- 
prise to me, as I had no intimation that you 
had made them the intended visit. Your gift 
was liberal and timely, as it will enable the 
family to procure several necessary comforts in 
their new quarters. But, warm as were their 
thanks for the favor of that visit, I am made the 
bearer of far deeper gratitude to the dear friends 

296 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 297 

whose great liberality gave them their new and 
comfortable home. I was told to send these 
benedictions to the vicinity of Boston, where it 
was supposed these true friends resided; but 
perhaps I shall not violate the spirit of my 
commission if I shall stop short of that local- 
ity, and give the blessings to certain other 
persons I wot of. Suffice to say, my young 
friends, that two more grateful hearts never 
beat, nor did human lips ever implore richer 
blessings to rest on a benefactor than were in- 
voked in your behalf, though unknown by name 
to the grateful suppliants. I am sure that if 
you could have heard the outpourings from 
the hearts and lips of those happy women, you 
would have been more than repaid for your 
outlay, liberal as it was. I have neither the 
language nor manner to express to you the 
fervency of their gratitude." 

"Thank you, doctor," said Davidson, "but 
perhaps we were most unwilling listeners to 
something like it when we visited the family the 
other day, and are very well satisfied to let that 
suffice for the past; but, while this subject is 
up, I may as well arrange another little matter 
which I have been considering. Hoping that 



298 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

something may be done by proper medical 
attention and care for the relief of the poor 
afflicted daughter, I wish to commission you 
to take whatever steps may give most promise 
of success. Employ such physicians as you 
may deem most skilful, and secure any other 
persons or means which may be thought requi- 
site, and send all bills to me, and they will be 
duly honored." 

" Why, my dear young friend/' said the truly 
astonished doctor, " your proposition does honor 
to your head and heart, and I have no language 
to express my admiration of such a generous 
deed. Be assured that I gladly accept the 
pleasing duty which you lay upon me, and 
with the greatest confidence that he who has 
inspired your heart to this noble purpose will 
bless it with complete success." 

"As my friend," interposed Rudolph, "will 
not share with me the pleasure of caring for 
the daughter, you may draw on me for such 
aid as the mother may require to keep her 
from suffering." 

"Thanks, double thanks to you both," re- 
plied the doctor ; " the gratitude of both mother 
and child will be beyond expression." 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 299 

" But now, as we have but two or three even- 
ings more to spare in striving to climb our 
beautiful ladder, let us turn to the question of 
the evening; and our preparation has given us 
a happy impulsion in the direction of our con- 
templation. 

" A night of rayless gloom was one of the 
most terrible judgments brought upon the guilty- 
oppressors of Israel. There was 'thick dark- 
ness in all the land of Egypt for three days ; 
they saw not one another, neither rose any out 
of his place for three days/ Of all the plagues 
with which Egypt had been smitten, this one 
produced the greatest effect on the obdurate 
monarch, though not sufficient to overcome 
his avarice. 

" Now, to envelop the earth in a similar night 
of dread it would only be necessary to with- 
draw all the watery vapor from the atmosphere, 
so that the diffusion and refraction of light would 
be suspended. Then, when the sun went down 
on any part of the earth, a horror of darkness 
would seize upon it. What a blessing God 
conferred upon the world when he caused the 
'vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth/ 
to make the heavens glow with the gold and 



300 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

purple of the setting sun ! And when the celes- 
tial tabernacle is folded up and hides the fading 
glories of the west, the same beneficent Hand 
drops a silvery radiance over the landscape as 
the moon comes forth to reflect its borrowed 
rays and the stars take their places in the cor- 
onal of night. 

" In beautiful and sweet contrast with the 
brighter radiance of the day, the soft, calm 
glow of a summer night is truly entrancing. 
Horror and dread are lifted from the night 
hours, and the departing sun is seen without 
regret and painful forebodings. But with these 
scenes you are familiar, and they may be passed 
without more special mention, while attention 
is directed to other glories of the night. 

"Few ever enjoy the rare opportunity of 
observing a lunar rainbow, but whoever has 
been thus richly favored will never forget the 
occasion. This phenomenon is produced by 
the same general laws that give the brighter 
solar glory to the skies, but the conditions 
are so varied as to give a softer and milder 
picture. It does not follow the wake of the 
black thundercloud, watching for a rift through 
its darkness for the soft beams of the moon to 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 301 

tint the threatening face with a beauty that may- 
mitigate its terrors. The night must be calm, 
the moon full and bright, and the atmosphere 
hung with a misty veil of suitable texture. 
When there is a juncture of these conditions, 
then, over some placid valley sleeping beneath 
the moonbeams, the coy visitant comes softly 
and chastely forth. Her garments are inwoven 
with mild pencilling of dyes, generally red, 
green, yellow, and sometimes blue, so delicate- 
ly blended as to charm the eye that gazes upon 
the queenly visitant. 

"This beautiful phenomenon has been very 
aptly called the ' Iris of the night ;' and it is to 
be regretted that it is not oftener seen adorning 
the lunar landscape. In threescore years, with 
much careful observation, and a part of the time 
under most favorable conditions, only three of 
these lunar wonders have been observed by me ; 
but for these special favors most devout grati- 
tude is felt. My eyes were enriched by the 
sight, and new conceptions of creative wisdom 
were impressed upon mind and heart. The 
tongue can say with a greater emphasis, ' He 
hath made everything beautiful in his time/ 

" There are many other beautiful phenomena 

26 



302 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

of the atmosphere which might engage atten- 
tion, such as the Spectre of the Brocken, the 
Ulloa circle, and the wonders of the mirage, 
but these may be passed ; and, in doing so, an 
ascent is made that fairly carries the observa- 
tion above the clouds, touching on the borders 
of celestial wonders. Another upward soaring, 
and the boundaries of terrestial things will be 
passed, and the marvels of astronomy fairly be- 
gin. Beyond this elevation only one other 
ascent can be made — to the presence of him 
who is ever ' dwelling in the light which no 
man can approach unto ; whom no man hath 
seen nor can see ; to whom be honor and pow- 
er everlasting. Amen.' When this superlative 
height is once attained, there is' no beyond 
nor aught to be revealed. He is the 'Alpha 
and the Omega,' the 'beginning and the end/ 

" But let us resume our upward searchings, 
and peradventure we may in the effort reach that 
august presence where ' there is fulness of joy.' 

" The glories of the aurora borealis, or ' north- 
ern lights,' have charmed all beholders ; but, 
like many other of God's gifts, they were long 
objects of superstition and terror, rather than 
incentives to wonder and adoration. They were 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 303 

supposed to presage some wrathful visitation, 
instead of revealing in brighter rays new depths 
of infinite love. To science we must award 
the praise of divesting these brilliant illum- 
inators of the night of their robes of terror, 
by showing the causes of their appearance. 
These nocturnal diplays are among the most 
sublime manifestations of atmospheric electric- 
ity. This mysterious force is so commonly 
associated with thunderclouds and tornadoes 
and the sharp red bolts of lightning, that it is 
hard to throw off the dread impression, and 
contemplate the same agency working its harm- 
less glories in the still hours of night, silently 
and mildly draping the heavens with tongues 
of flame and coruscations of pink and rosy 
light. Entrancingly beautiful, what a spectacle 
is furnished to the beholder as the lambent 
glories move in gorgeous evolutions over the 
heavenly plains ! Now the sky is overspread 
with a draping of gold, rose-tints, and purple, 
and now with tongues of silvery flames, shoot- 
ing up from the horizon or hanging pendent 
from some cloudy convolution. The higher the 
northern point of observation, the richer are the 
auroral displays. 



304 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

"A French explorer along the shores of 
Spitzbergen thus describes what he saw, and 
one cannot but marvel at the goodness of the 
Creator in so ordering it that these bleak re- 
gions, where an unbroken night hangs over 
the scene for one-fourth of the year, should be 
robbed of much of their dark and frigid ter- 
rors by these brilliant exhibitions. The writer 
says : 

"'At times they are simple diffused gleams 
or luminous patches, and at others quivering 
rays of pure white across the sky, starting from 
the horizon as if an invisible pencil were being 
drawh over the celestial vault. At times it 
stops in its course ; the incomplete rays do not 
reach the zenith, but the aurora continues at 
some other point ; a bouquet of rays darts forth, 
spreads out into a fan, and then becomes pale 
and dies out. At other times long golden dra- 
peries float above the head of the spectator, and 
take a thousand folds and undulations, as if agi- 
tated by the winds. They appear to be but at 
a slight elevation in the atmosphere, and it 
seems strange that the rustling of the folds, as 
they double back on to each other, is not audi- 
ble. Generally a luminous bow is seen in the 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 305 

north; a black segment separates them from 
the horizon, its dark color forming a contrast 
with the pure white or bright red of the bow, 
which darts forth the rays, extends, becomes 
divided, and. soon presents the appearance of a 
luminous fan, which, filling the northern sky, 
mounts nearly to the zenith, where the rays, 
uniting, form a crown which in its turn darts 
forth luminous jets in all directions. The sky 
then looks like a cupola of fire ; the blue, the 
green, the yellow, the red, and the white vibrate 
in the palpitating rays of the aurora/ 

" Captains Kane and Ross, and other Arctic 
explorers give similar grand descriptions of these 
gorgeous polar illuminations, which almost, one 
would say, overbalance the terrible exposures 
and dangers which are met by those adven- 
turers who advance into those ice-bound lati- 
tudes. 

" A residence of two winters at the foot of 

Lake Superior afforded me an opportunity to 

behold some auroral displays which must have 

approximated to the glories of those witnessed 

by these adventurers. The brilliant pink and 

rosy hues which the auroras at times present 

were often marked; and when these bright 
26* u 



306 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

colors were reflected on the stainless snow- 
banks of the region, the effect was surpassingly- 
beautiful. Another peculiarity observed was a 
unique band or ribbon of silvery light spanning 
the heavens at the zenith, with the occasional 
addition of a secondary one on the side near- 
est the North Pole. The outlines were as dis- 
tinct as the edge of a ribbon, nor was there any 
fluctuation of light except when it faded away 
as softly as it first waxed into fulness. 

" We could not close this part of our subject 
without calling your attention to the following 
very graphic description of an aurora from Mr. 
George Kennan's Tent-Life in Siberia. 

" Imagination certainly could not conceive of 
any scene more gorgeously sublime than that 
auroral picturing which Jehovah then spread on 
the northern skies ; and Mr. Kennan, though 
unusually gifted with descriptive powers, says 
of his attempt to portray this heavenly mag- 
nificence, ' I have given only faint hints, which 
the imagination of the reader must fill up. But 
be assured that no description, however faithful, 
no flight of the imagination, however exalted, 
can begin to do justice to a spectacle of such 
unearthly grandeur/ Here is his attempt to 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. $0? 

set forth this ' glory of the Lord which is ter- 
rible :' 

" ' It was a cold, dark, but clear winter's night, 
and the sky in the earlier part of the evening 
showed no signs of the magnificent illumina- 
tion which was already being prepared. A 
few streamers wavered now and then in the 
north, and a faint radiance, like that of the ris- 
ing moon, shone above the dark belt of shrub- 
bery which bordered the river ; but this was a 
common occurrence, and it excited no notice or 
remark. Late in the evening, just as we were 
preparing to go to bed, Dodd happened to go 
out of doors for a moment to look after his 
dogs ; but no sooner had he reached the outer 
door of the entry than he came rushing back, 
his face ablaze with excitement, shouting, " Ken- 
nan ! Robinson ! come out, quick !" With a 
vague impression that the village must be on 
fire, I sprang up, and without stopping to put 
on any furs ran hastily out, followed closely by 
Robinson, Harden, and Smith. As we emerged 
into the open air there burst suddenly upon our 
startled eyes the grandest exhibition of vivid 
dazzling light and color of which the mind can 
conceive. The whole universe seemed to be on 



308 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 

fire. A broad arch of brilliant prismatic colors 
spanned the heavens from east to west, like a 
gigantic rainbow, with a long fringe of crimson 
and yellow streamers stretching up from its 
convex edge to the very zenith. At short in- 
tervals of one or two seconds wide, luminous 
bands, parallel with the arch, rose suddenly 
out of the northern horizon, and swept with a 
swift and steady majesty across the whole 
heavens, like long breakers of phosphorescent 
light rolling in from some limitless ocean of 
space. 

" ' Every portion of the vast arch was momen- 
tarily wavering, trembling, and changing color, 
and the brilliant streamers which fringed its 
edge swept back and forth in great curves, like 
the fiery sword of the angel at the gate of 
Eden. In a moment the vast auroral rainbow, 
with its wavering streamers, began to move 
slowly up toward the zenith, and a second 
arch of equal brilliancy formed directly under 
it, shooting up another long serried row of 
slender colored lances toward the North Star, 
like a battalion of the celestial host presenting 
arms to its commanding angel. Every instant 
the display increased in unearthly grandeur. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 309 

The luminous bands revolved swiftly, like the 
spokes of a great wheel of light, across the 
heavens ; the streamers hurried back and forth 
with swift, tremulous motion from the ends of 
the arches to the centre, and now and then a 
great wave of crimson would surge up from 
the north and fairly deluge the whole sky with 
color, tinging the white, snowy earth far and 
wide with its rosy reflection. But as the words 
of the prophecy, "And the heavens shall be 
turned into blood," formed themselves on my 
lips, the crimson suddenly vanished, and a light- 
ning-flash of vivid orange startled us with its 
wide, all-pervading glare, which extended even 
to the southern horizon, as if the whole volume 
of the atmosphere had suddenly taken fire. I 
even held my breath a moment, as I listened 
for the tremendous crash of thunder which it 
seemed to me must follow this sudden burst of 
vivid light; but in heaven or earth there was 
no sound to break the calm silence of night, 
save the hastily-muttered prayers of the fright- 
ened native at my side as he crossed himself 
and kneeled down before the visible majesty of 
God. I could not imagine any possible addi- 
tion which even the Almighty power could 



3IO THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

make to the grandeur of the aurora as it now 
appeared. The rapid alternations of crimson, 
blue, green, and yellow in the sky were re- 
flected so vividly from the white surface of the 
snow that the whole world seemed now steeped 
in blood, and then quivering in the atmosphere 
of pale, ghastly green, through which shone 
the unspeakable glories of the mighty crimson 
and yellow arches. But the end was not yet. 
As we watched with upturned faces the swift 
ebb and flow of these great celestial tides of 
colored lights, the last seal of the glorious rev- 
elation was suddenly broken, and both arches 
were simultaneously shivered into a thousand 
parallel perpendicular bars, every one of which 
displayed in regular order, from top to bottom, 
the seven primary colors of the solar spectrum. 
From horizon to horizon there now stretched 
two vast curving bridges of colored bars, across 
which we almost expected to see, passing and 
repassing, the bright inhabitants of another 
world. Amid cries of astonishment and ex- 
clamation, " God have mercy !" from the start- 
led natives, these innumerable bars began to 
move, with a swift dancing motion, back and 
forth along the whole extent of both arches, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 3II 

passing each other from side to side with such 
bewildering rapidity that the eye was lost in the 
attempt to follow them. The whole concave of 
heaven seemed transformed into one great re- 
volving kaleidoscope of shattered rainbows. 
Never had I dreamed of such a rainbow as 
this, and I am not ashamed to confess that its 
magnificence at that moment overawed and 
frightened me. The whole sky, from zenith to 
horizon, was one molten, mantling sea of color 
and fire, crimson and purple, and scarlet and 
green, and colors for which there are no words 
in language and no ideas in the mind — things 
that can only be conceived while they are 
visible/ 

" Whatever other hidden purpose these aerial 
displays may have in the economy of Nature — 
whether to vitalize the atmosphere or to give 
cohesion and vigor to the earth — the divine 
benediction in these wonders of the heavens 
cannot be overlooked nor forgotten unless by 
the gross and insensible. It must, indeed, be 
an ' evil eye ' that cannot see the ' beauty of 
the Lord ' when it is blazoned all over the face 
of the sky. 

"The ascending scale thus far pursued has 



312 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

been one of earthly leading ; but we have now 
reached the end of terrestrial guidance. In any 
attempts at further ascent a new pilotage must 
be sought, one whose commission and capabil- 
ities are from a higher source. Looking up- 
ward from our highest earthly altitude, the eye 
is attracted by some brilliant wanderers of the 
skies, whose mysterious birthplace is beyond the 
ken of human observation, and who are known 
only by their flash and explosion when they 
touch the borders of our atmosphere. 

" The gazer into the starry depths of night is 
also often startled by the fiery trail of the shoot- 
ing stars. More or less of these luminous vis- 
itors are seen during every still and cloudless 
night, being most numerous during the winter 
season, except on the return of special occa- 
sions, when, during the months of October and 
November, the earth passes through a region 
where they seem to exist in a perfect storm of 
blazing orbs. It was my good fortune in 1833 to 
see at St. Marie's, in Michigan, that extraordinary 
shower of shooting stars which so attracted the 
notice of astronomical observers. From about 
nine in the evening till past three o'clock in the 
morning the heavens were in one continual blaze. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 313 

As many as sixty in an hour were counted, or 
one each minute. Some of these blazing wan- 
derers were of great magnitude, and passed 
through the skies with a hissing, rushing noise, 
like a large rocket, and with a similar detona- 
tion as they exploded, sending off a fiery rain 
as they did so. These statements can be relied 
on as strictly true, as.it was made the special 
duty of the observer to watch the phenomenon 
and make a detailed entry in a record that was to 
be forwarded to the government at Washington. 
" A large camp of Indians was located in the 
neighborhood, and the startling influence of this 
splendid phenomenon on their untutored minds 
was soon manifest by the beating of the sacred 
drum and the attending wail of the medicine- 
men. The whole village was put into the wild- 
est uproar, and so continued until the light of 
the following morning. Nor was the effect any 
the less powerful over the minds of the ignorant 
and superstitious half-breeds and Canadians who 
made up the villages on both sides of the river. 
In the morning they crowded around the house 
of the priest, each one eager to secure some relic 
or charm that would give security against the 
expected calamity. 

27 



3H THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

" This state of things was but an illustration 
of the general misconception that once charac- 
terized the mass of society, by which the w T orks 
and providences of God were perverted, chang- 
ing into tokens of' wrath what were sent as 
expressions of his benevolence. 

" Whence these fiery orbs came, and what 
they really are, the learned have not yet de- 
cided. They may be fragments of some ex- 
ploded planet or star, the condensation of some 
mighty nebulosity or gaseous accumulation; but, 
be this as it may, there are other shooting aero- 
lites from unknown regions with whose sub- 
stance science is well acquainted. Like the 
above named, these luminous visitors probably 
come from some unknown sphere beyond the 
orbit of our earth, and we are thus put on a 
reversed track which leads us far away from 
mundane surroundings. 

"The bolides, or aerolites, are largely com- 
posed of iron. Different from the shooting 
stars, which explode as soon as they touch our 
atmosphere, these aerolites pass with a fiery trail 
to the earth, where they bury themselves with a 
loud explosion, and with a degree of heat that 
makes the ground smoke for days afterward. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 315 

Flammarion, in his admirable work on the at- 
mosphere, thus describes one of these strange 
visitations : 

" ' The sky was suddenly illuminated by a me- 
teor, which looked like a burning ball with a 
long train of fire in its track. It emitted a 
bright light of a pale greenish hue, and lasted 
for six or ten seconds. Its disappearance was 
preceded by an explosion and by the simulta- 
neous projection of flaming fragments, while 
there remained for some time after a light and 
whitish cloud. This was followed by a contin- 
uous noise, like the distant rolling of thunder, 
then by three or four detonations of extreme 
violence, which were heard at points distant fifty 
miles from each other. Immediately after these 
detonations the inhabitants of Sanguis -Saint- 
Etienne heard a hissing noise, like that made 
by red-hot iron when it is plunged into water ; 
then a dull sound, indicating the fall of a solid 
body to the ground. The mass had fallen at 
about thirty yards from the church of Sanguis, 
in the bed of a small stream, and was scattered 
into fragments/ 

" One of the largest and most curious aero- 
lites is found in the Smithsonian Institution at 



3l6 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

Washington. It is largely composed of iron, 
and so pure that it shows the bright metal 
when cut with a chisel or file. It was evi- 
dently in a fused state when it was hurled to 
our earth. Some have let imagination dwell on 
the strange story which the Egyptian mummy 
that stands near this aerial visitant could tell; 
but what would be the tale of his short life on 
this planet to the sublime unfoldings of this 
wanderer through infinite space for — who knows 
how long ? or from whence his setting forth be- 
gan ? Nay, dumb as it is, it speaks of a far- 
off world, to which the astronomer has never 
stretched his line, and of which he has not 
caught the faintest glimpse even through his 
marvellous glass. And has it come only to 
unfold to this astonished and listening world 
the wider range of the reign of chance and the 
vagaries of natural laws and selection ? No, 
no ; its sublime teaching is, he is there who 
can ' bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or 
loose the bands of Orion/ who bringeth ' forth 
Mazzaroth in his season/ and who can ' guide 
Arcturus and his sons.' He is there who l rideth 
upon the heavens by his name Jah/ 

" Following inversely the trail of the aerolites, 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. S l 7 

no stopping-place will be found until we strike 
the pathway of the moon ; but she is too insig- 
nificant to delay our upward flight. Onward and 
upward be the aspiration until, bathed in the 
light of the stars and lost in the infinite, there 
will remain only one refuge for rest and security. 
* Is not God in the height of the heaven ? and 
behold the height of the stars, how high they 
are ?' This was the goal of our starting ; and 
every waymark has been carefully scrutinized 
to enable us to keep the straight and narrow 
path. Having safely reached the glorious alti- 
tude we were seeking, we drop all guidance. 
All wonder is lost in him who is 'Wonderful/ 
and created beauty has no radiance when stand- 
ing in the presence of the ' King in his beauty/ 
Ravished by that beholding, the cry of every 
devout heart will be, ' Whom have I in heaven 
but thee ? and there is none upon the earth that 
I desire beside thee.' 

" When the angels descended on the heavenly 
ladder which Jacob saw, it was to bring to him 
a blessing in a clearer recognition of God's spe- 
cial care and goodness — a blessing which so 
quickened him that he devoutly set up an altar 
and worshipped; and we shall profane our beau- 

27* 



3 l8 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

tiful ladder if, descending from the heights to 
which we have ascended, we shall do less than 
thus to adore him whose presence has been so 
strikingly manifest from the lowest step to the 
topmost round ; and so, as a fitting conclusion 
to our evening's study, let us devoutly sing: 

1 All hail the power of Jesus' name ! 
Let angels prostrate fall ; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 
And crown him Lord of all.'" 

When this glorious old anthem of Christian 
worship had been sung, all bowed while Doctor 
Dean poured forth the grateful homage of their 
hearts to the Giver of all good as seen in the 
glorious works of his hand and the greater mar- 
vels of his grace. 

When the young men had taken their leave 
Milton said to his sister Minnie, 

" Well, sister mine, how do my young friends 
stand in your opinion by this time ? They are 
not the greatest heathens, after all, if I am any 
judge." 

" How do they stand ? Why, either Mr. Da- 
vidson is marvellously changed, or his views and 
actions are very far apart, for he has done a most 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 319 

magnificent thing for the Farleys, and Mr. Ru- 
dolph is not far behind him." 

" I am not very profound," said the brother, 
" in my knowledge of human character, and 
father can correct me if wrong ; but, as a gen- 
eral thing, principles and actions are not apt to 
be so far apart as you seem to indicate they 
may be in the case of Mr. Davidson." 

As this remark seemed to be an appeal to the 
father, he answered by saying : 

" Bad men sometimes do things that may be 
good in themselves, but you are correct, my son, 
in the general principle, and certainly so in the 
present instance. When we first became ac- 
quainted with our young friends, they could 
hardly be charged with having any settled 
views of life or duty, and hence our efforts to 
give them some help in the right direction; and 
it has been a matter of great satisfaction to trace 
a gradual and hopeful progress. I regret that 
their early return to college will bring our inter- 
views to a close sooner than I could wish ; but 
let us hope and pray that the good seed will not 
remain long dormant nor prove unfruitful." 

"Why, father," said Ella, "if nothing more 
comes of it, I am sure that what they have 



320 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

done already will pay a thousand times for all 
our efforts; and, besides, I am persuaded that 
the relish they have already in doing good will 
remove all desire to waste their lives in idle loi- 
terings or trifling amusements." 

" I am quite sure that you are right in that 
conclusion, sister," added the brother, "for I 
happen to know that they return to their stud- 
ies with firm resolves to make the best possible 
use of their opportunities ; and when they form 
such a purpose it means something." 

"Well," said the father, "let us thank God 
for the past, and hope and pray for a greater 
blessing in the future; and so we commend 
them to God and the word of his grace." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE ALTAR AND THE SACRIFICE. 

r I ^HE little company that had spent so many 
-*- happy hours in the cozy library at Wil- 
low Brook were assembled for the final inter- 
view. Doctor Dean opened the conversation 
by remarking: 

" It is with no ordinary emotions that I meet 
you this evening to bring to a conclusion the 
efforts made to get a clearer insight into the 
works and purposes of Jehovah. Time has 
allowed us opportunity to touch but the bor- 
ders of creative skill, and has confined us to a 
few rounds of that ascending pathway which 
has grown brighter and brighter at each up- 
ward stepping, though you have had such very 
imperfect guidance all the way. Indeed, I may 
have quite failed of my purpose, leaving us to 
part company with but little or no advance in 
true knowledge of Nature's wonderful lessons. 

Be this as it may, I can assure you that the 

v 321 



322 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

effort has been kindly and earnestly made, and 
I have used all the resources at my command. 
Whether success or failure will mark the close 
of our interviews, it now only remains for me 
to try and fix the beautiful moral lessons of the 
studies which we have been pursuing. Stand- 
ing on the altitude reached, it is only left us, as 
most fitting, to erect our altar and lay the sac- 
rifice thereon, and worship him whose 'glory 
is above the earth and the heaven/ 

" ' God created man in his own image, in the 
image of God created he him.' This crowning 
act of Jehovah's creative power has a signif- 
icance beyond the stretch of human compre- 
hension. The mysteries, possibilities, gifts, and 
graces which were then made a part of man's 
inheritance have never been fully understood, 
though they have ever been contributing to 
the cup of life's happiness. Though the outward 
human form may be considered as the master- 
piece of heavenly wisdom and skill, yet the per- 
fectly moulded clay bore no visible semblance 
to the Almighty Artist. The gifts which made 
man God-like were of a higher order ; they were 
not of the earth, earthy, but superlative bene- 
dictions from heaven. They quickened the 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 323 

earthly elements not only with power to move 
the muscles and tone up the senses, but were 
also the inbreathing of those higher and nobler 
attributes which enable man to act, reason, love, 
and even aspire to a close fellowship with him 
who thus graciously threw the shadow of his 
own nature over the humble creature of his 
hand. 

" It has been beautifully said that the ' visible 
creation was but a thought of God/ This say- 
ing is only the embodiment of the scriptural 
statement, ' that the invisible things of him from 
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being 
understood by the things that are made, even 
his eternal power and Godhead/ The study of 
the works of Nature, therefore, if properly pur- 
sued, is but a striving to comprehend more and 
more of the wonders of the Divine Mind and 
the infinite riches of God's goodness. Too 
often, alas ! like the poor deluded idolater, 
men go into raptures over the productions of 
human genius, and pay fabulous prices for their 
imitations of the handiworks of God, while they 
are wholly insensible to the beauties of the 
divine originals, and withhold all homage from 
him who adorns heaven and earth with beauty 



324 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

and glory. They can recognize the skill that 
covers the canvas with some near similitude of 
Nature's picturings, but are too dull to see the 
work of the infinite Hand that covers the hills 
with living glories and spreads over the clouds 
something of the Creator's own radiance. Such 
sluggish observers grossly profane Nature and 
dishonor the Creator ; they squander the high- 
est possibilities of happiness, and go back to 
dust with the great purposes of life unrealized. 

" Nothing less than a complete restoration 
of the divine image will satisfy the longings 
of a truly enlightened soul. ' I shall be satis- 
fied when I awake in thy likeness ' is the un- 
ceasing, longing cry of such a spirit. To i see 
through a glass darkly/ to ' know but in part/ 
are restraints on complete happiness from which 
the aspiring soul longs to escape. To ' be like 
him/ to ' see him as he is/ to 'know as we are 
known/ to be ' made perfect in love/ constitute 
the heaven to which the soul is seeking to climb, 
where perfect bliss will be found in beholding the 
' beauty of the Lord ' in the face of Jesus Christ, 
the l brightness of the Father's glory and the 
express image of his person/ 

" If devoutly led, we are often filled with rap- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. $2$ 

turous astonishment at the number of heavenly 
vistas which will be opened unto us. Quite 
often they open up unexpectedly by the wayside, 
or from the pillar of stone om which we have 
sought rest, sad and wayworn. The first round 
of the ladder may be near to the earthly foot- 
resting, but ever and surely it leads up to the 
brightness of a heavenly communion if we but 
follow the angelic guidance which is ever at- 
tendant. Blessed with such sweet visions, we 
shall learn to unsandal our feet where we have 
often been walking unconscious of the Holy 
Presence which consecrated the path we were 
treading. On the way to the earthly Canaan 
the Egyptians and the Israelites looked upon 
the same cloud ; but to the one it was the 
blackness of darkness, while to the other it 
was the glorious Shekinah of Jehovah's pres- 
ence. And thus it will be with all searchers. 
If the look is earthward, the darkness will hide 
all in a pall of doubt and death ; but whenever 
and wherever the contemplation is Godward, the 
path will be radiant, leading into clearer light and 
serener happiness, until that presence is finally 
reached where there is ' fulness of joy/ 

" The radiant ladder which we have been as- 

28 



326 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

cending had its foot resting in the dull ooze of 
a frog-pond, dull only till our eyes were un- 
sealed to behold its hidden marvels. Step by 
step, as its rounds have been climbed, the reve- 
lation has grown brighter and brighter, until a 
blaze of glory has been reached which the 
dazed vision cannot penetrate. Yet to what the 
ascent leads is as surely known as the resting- 
place of its foot which has been examined so 
carefully. It conducts upward to the throne 
and presence of Jehovah himself. 

" During the progress of the ascent we have 
never paused to ask, ' What shall it profit ?' 
Purse and scrip have been left behind. No 
need has been felt for the one nor attempts 
made to fill the other. Even the insatiate cry 
of Science, ' What is it ?' has not been the bur- 
den of our inquiries. A higher purpose and 
joy has guided all the way along. The divine 
presence and goodness have been sought in 
every research, from the invisible mote in the 
water-drop to the incomprehensible majesty of 
the heavens ; and everywhere and in everything 
infinite skill and beneficent wisdom have been 
gloriously manifested. 

" And have the more mundane searchers, who 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2> 2 7 

began their investigations with us with only the 
inquiries on their lips, 'What. shall we eat?' and 
' What shall we drink ?' or ' Wherewithal shall 
we be clothed ?' had a brighter pathway or 
reaped a richer harvest ? Have their treasures, 
laid up on earth, the value and security of those 
which are incorruptible and undefiled, and that 
fade not away, reserved in heaven? And do 
their hearts who still cleave to the earth, and 
who can see no value in anything which does 
not bring a present sensual happiness, feel the 
pure and exultant joy and hope of those who, 
in a loving communion with Nature, have a 
prelibation of celestial blessedness ? 

" Our absorbing aspiration, in all our re- 
search, has been, ' Oh, that I knew where I 
might find him, that I might come even to his 
seat!' Nor has our devout aspiration been 
repelled by delay or disappointment; but at 
every new stage of advance the glad recogni- 
tion has been, ' Surely the Lord was in this 
place/ and he hath made it a gate of heaven. 
With hearts thus inspired and panting upward, 
the lips can repeat the burning words of one of 
the most devout students of Nature and most 
eloquent setters-forth of the wonders and maj- 



328 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

esty of God seen therein : ' Every time you go 
forth under the open sky, be it cerulean or be 
it overcast, let it be to you an eternal beckoner 
upward. ... In yon measureless, ever-receding 
dome you will ever find a limitless, an exhila- 
rating arena for all that in you is most noble 
and stout and true and Godward. Every time, 
then, that you go forth under heaven's arch 
accept the sky as life's real meaning. On its 
azure, ever-lifting, infinite vault evermore read 
the sun-emblazoned legend, Excelsior.' Yes, 
that is the sublime lesson — higher, ever higher; 
craving, ever craving, as the cry still goes up 
to the throne of All Goodness, ' I shall be sat- 
isfied when I awake with thy likeness." 

* Oh, glorious hour ! oh, blest abode ! 
I shall be near and like my God, 
And every power find sweet employ 
In that eternal world of joy.' 

" Though still for a season the Eternal Father 
must be contemplated as enfolded in his ineffa- 
ble glory, unapproachable and impenetrable, in 
the ever-present Shekinah which has illuminated 
all our upward soaring our eyes have seen the 
glory of the Lord. So ravishing has been the 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. Z 2 9 

sight that the lessons of beauty and wonder 
which Nature teaches are bedimmed, and there- 
fore we drop our further searching. It is time 
now to build the altar and get ready the sacri- 
fice and the fire — to tune the harp and heart, 
and catch, if we can, the keynote of Nature's 
doxology. The anthem began 'when the morn- 
ing stars sang together,, and all the sons of God 
shouted for joy/ From that hour Nature has 
kept up the sublime chorus. Some stop their 
ears and will not hear, some are so dull that 
they hear but an uncertain sound, and some are 
so absorbed in lower desires that they hear but 
a faint echo at uncertain intervals ; but whoever 
listens with quickened soul catches the clear 
swelling anthem coming up from all the round 
of creation : ' Praise ye the Lord from the heav- 
ens ; praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, 
all his angels ; praise ye him, all his hosts. 
Praise ye him, sun and moon ; praise him, all 
ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of 
heavens, and ye waters that be above the heav- 
ens. Let them praise the name of the Lord ; 
for he commanded, and they were created. He 
hath also stablished them for ever and ever ; 
he hath made a decree which shall not pass. 

28* 



33° THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, 
and all deeps : fire, and hail ; snow, and va- 
pors ; stormy wind fulfilling his word ; moun- 
tains, and all hills ; fruitful trees, and all cedars : 
beasts, and all cattle ; creeping things, and fly- 
ing fowl; kings of the earth, and all people; 
princes, and all judges of the earth : both young 
men, and maidens ; old men, and children : let 
them praise the name of the Lord ; for his name 
alone is excellent ; his glory is above the earth 
and heaven/ Amen and Amen !" 

" On the mountains of rapture we've lingered so long, 
It glows in the features and breathes in our song ; 
Oh, had we the wings of a swift-flying dove, 
We would hasten away to the banquet of love. 

" Up near to its gates our bright soaring has been, 
Our souls through its portals for a moment passed in ; 
There beauty celestial in full radiance shone 
- O'er fields of delight and the burning white throne. 

" Though costly the pearls in the crowns of the great, 
Far richer are those in its outermost gate ; 
And gold, to the heart of the miser so sweet, 
A pavement is spread for the shining ones' feet. 

" How sweet through its openings to catch the soft beam 
That brings to the spirit a ray of that dream ! 
That relish of sweetness, once tasted above, 
Has ravished the soul for the mansions of love." 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 33 1 

When Doctor Dean closed his remarks there 
was quite an interval of silence, as though there 
was a reluctance to break the spell, but finally 
Davidson said : 

"Doctor, you will believe me when I say 
that we have no language in which adequately 
to thank you for the deep interest which you 
have taken in our welfare and the exceedingly 
interesting lessons which you have so kindly 
given us. It is to our shame that we must 
confess that when we first formed your acquaint- 
ance we had been led into gross errors as re- 
gards both the ends of knowledge and the pur- 
poses of life. Study was a burden and life an 
aimless thing. Our thoughts had been how 
soonest to escape the one, and foolishly to 
squander the other. Although we are not pre- 
pared to express any positive acceptance of re- 
ligion as an experimental reality, yet it may be 
pleasing to you to know that your instructions 
have convinced us that its great principles are 
the only true inspirations to a noble life; and 
in taking our leave of you and your most ex- 
cellent family it is no mere formal utterance 
when we most earnestly solicit an interest in 
your daily supplications, that we may be 



33 2 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

brought to a hearty realization of its truths 
and hopes." 

When Davidson had closed his expressions 
of regard, Rudolph remarked: 

" Be assured, Doctor Dean, that I most heart- 
ily concur in all that my friend has said. I shall 
never forget your kindness, nor that of your fam- 
ily. I have also greatly profited by your timely 
and wholesome instructions, while the inspiring 
example of your whole family has shown that 
religion is something more than a system of 
words or a lifeless form. I shall ever carry 
with me pleasing recollections of the happy 
and profitable hours spent in your family circle, 
and earnestly unite in the request of Mr. Da- 
vidson that you will include me in your daily 
supplications, that I may find the true path of 
life and happiness, and safely keep it to the 
end." 

"It is with no ordinary degree of satisfac- 
tion," was Doctor Dean's response to these 
kind expressions, "that I hear these commen- 
dations of my imperfect efforts to aid you in the 
great duties of life. Our very pleasant associa- 
tion will remain among the sweetest recollec- 
tions of all my professional life, and my thoughts 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 333 

and prayers will ever follow you with the warm- 
est wishes for your continued success and a final 
crown of glory. 

"And now, before we finally sever these 
pleasant bonds, let us once more seek that 
blessing without which all knowledge is vain 
and purposes fruitless. ,, 

Ella took her seat at the organ, and started 
that sweet lyric so often sung when Christian 
friends must say farewell — 

"When shall we meet again?" 

After the song a fervent appeal to the throne 
of grace followed, invoking divine guidance for 
the young friends in all their pursuits, and espe- 
cially that they might be brought to a hearty 
and speedy knowledge of the love and mercy 
of Christ Jesus the Lord. 

Then came the ardent grasp of the parting 
hand, and an earnest " Good-bye " and God 
bless you ! and the special lessons at Willow 
Brook were brought to a close. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE HAPPY OUTCOME. 

\T 7ITH a new and nobler inspiration the 
* * two young students returned to their 
college-studies, followed by the best wishes 
and benedictions of their kind friends at Wil- 
low Brook. 

During the ensuing winter a deep religious 
interest pervaded both the college and the vil- 
lage where it was located. The blessed fruits 
of their summer studies were soon apparent, for 
among the first in the college to manifest a spirit 
of earnest religious inquiry were Rudolph and 
Davidson — an interest which soon culminated 
in a clear and joyous exercise of faith in the 
atoning grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Feel- 
ing how much under God they owed to the 
earnest and timely instruction of Doctor Dean, 
one of their first and most pleasing acts, after 
their conversion, was to give to their beloved 

334 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 335 

friend and instructor, in a joint letter, an 
account of their happy change, which was 
couched in the following words : 

Dear and Beloved Friend: 

We feel sure that no one will more heartily rejoice 
over the happy change which has brought us into sweet 
sympathy with the people of God than yourself, as no 
other agency, save the work of the Holy Spirit, has had 
so direct an influence in producing it. When we parted 
at Willow Brook we informed you of the change which 
had already taken place in our thoughts and purposes, 
but we could not then lay claim to any real personal 
acceptance of the truths of Christianity. They were 
accepted as a theory, but not realized as a life ; yet the 
leaven of your earnest and forcible instructions kept 
working and its influence widening, until finally we 
could resist the Spirit no longer. We came to know 
our need, and found rest by a hearty reception of 
Christ as our Saviour and hope. W T e were among the 
first in college to manifest our desire for the instructions 
and prayers of God's people ; and, blessed be the name 
of the Holy One of Israel ! we were soon made to rejoice 
in the assurance of forgiving love. Rejoice with us, O 
our friends, for your prayers have been answered, and 
our souls magnify the Lord. If we are spared to another 
summer, one of our first visits will be to Willow Brook. 
It was there that we got the first true insight into the 
treasures of knowledge ; it was there too that we had 
our first experience of the luxury of doing good ; and 
ever, to us, two of the brightest spots on earth will be 



33 6 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

the little library at Willow Brook and the cozy brown 
cottage of the widow and Alice. It is with tenfold more 
pleasure now that we shall continue to fulfil our pledges 
to aid in lifting the burdens from their sorrowing hearts. 
It is no longer a work of pity, but is now done in the 
name of a disciple, for Christ's sake. 

Oh, how ardently we thank you, and each member 
of your amiable family, for your kind interest in two 
strangers, and for the pains and care bestowed to make 
our lives more useful and happy ! Still earnestly solicit- 
ing a continued interest in your daily supplications, that 
we may truly adorn the professions of faith which we have 
made by lives consecrated to the Master's service, and 
most fervently praying that the richest blessings of 
Heaven may be your exceeding great reward, 
We are, very affectionately, 
Yours in Christ, 

Chas. Davidson, 
Lew. Rudolph. 

It is needless to say that this epistle brought 
a time of rejoicing to Willow Brook. The 
earnest workers were reaping the fruit of their 
labors, and with the ripe sheaves in their hands 
they could but rejoice as they that "joy in 
harvest" and resolve to sow for a broader 
reaping. 

Immediately after receiving his commission 
Doctor Dean had taken measures to secure for 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 337 

the afflicted Alice all the aid which skill and 
the most careful nursing could give. In pur- 
suance of his plan she had been removed to an 
institution in New York where cases kindred to 
hers were made a specialty. Her improvement 
had already been such as to give strong hope 
of a final and permanent restoration to health 
and strength. The doctor felt assured of this 
final happy consummation, and so wrote to 
Davidson when acknowledging his very accept- 
able letter. 

The prompt response to this was, as might 
have been expected : " Let nothing be wanting 
that will contribute to a speedy and successful 
issue." 

The reader is now asked to pass over a pe- 
riod of two years or more in the history of the 
personages who have figured in the preced- 
ing pages. During this time, however, some 
marked changes have taken place which must 
be noted. The two young men had success- 
fully graduated with honor — Davidson, as Ru- 
dolph predicted, at the head of his class, an 
unusually large and talented one. Rudolph 
was pursuing his legal studies, but had found 

29 W 



338 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

time to lay aside his musty tomes of legal lore 
and pay a number of pleasant visits to Willow- 
Brook. In so doing it was discovered that the 
first indications were deceptive ; it was not the 
elder and more sedate Ella that formed the 
attraction, but the younger and more volatile 
sister, Minnie. In the first visits in company 
with his friend he had deferred to his prefer- 
ence for the younger sister ; but when that oc- 
casion was removed his heart turned to its true 
proclivities. With the sanction of all con- 
cerned, it was anticipated that when ready to 
settle in the practice of his profession, Miss 
Minnie Dean would become a partner-in-law, 
if not a law-partner, of Lewis Rudolph, Attor- 
ney and Counsellor-at-Law. 

The Farleys had grown happy in the little 
brown cottage, with the increasing esteem of 
their neighbors. Alice, with health perfectly 
restored and in the full flush of a perfect 
womanhood, was admired and loved by all 
who knew her. Beautiful in person, rich in 
mental endowments, and adorning with a spirit 
of meekness the character of an active Christian 
worker, she stood second to none in the esteem 
of the community. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 339 

With strength restored and ability to assume 
the necessary charges of the family, now that 
they had a home of their own, after due counsel 
with her mother she had resolved to decline any 
further assistance from their unknown benefac- 
tors, feeling that they had already taxed their 
noble charities long enough. This determina- 
tion had been made known to Doctor Dean, 
coupled with the statement that the purpose 
was final and inflexible. In due time this in- 
formation had been communicated to Mr. Da- 
vidson, coupled with the earnest request that 
his agency in the transactions might now be 
made known to the parties who had so long 
been profited by his benefactions. 

During the intervening years Davidson had 
several times visited Willow Brook, and had 
made short calls at the brown cottage. In the 
mean time the decease of his father had placed 
him in possession of a large property, so in- 
vested that it was very productive. In the care 
and proper disposal of this large wealth he had 
found such constant employment that he had 
hardly thought of social wants or changes. In- 
deed, whatever of heart-longings he had felt in 
this direction had found gratification in his care 



340 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

for the wants of Alice Farley. In no outlays 
which he had made had he experienced the 
pleasure which was surely enjoyed when he 
filled out his cheques for the monthly bills pre- 
sented in her behalf. The stoppage of this de- 
mand was a shock that he had not anticipated, 
and it led to some searchings of heart and scan- 
ning of motives. Why had he experienced such 
peculiar emotions in these transactions ? True, 
he would have done all that he had done from 
pure regard to the wants of the poor sufferer; 
and surely since he had learned to do good for 
Christ's sake, it had been a sweeter duty ; yet it 
was plain that his heart had been moved by 
other impulses. He could but recall how the 
pale face of the afflicted Alice had lingered in 
his dreams and followed him, phantom-like, in 
his daily thoughts, and had always been present 
as a kind of inspiring genius when he made up 
his favors, causing him to feel, as he did on his 
first visit to the log cabin on the lake, that he 
was the more indebted the oftener and more 
largely he gave. Was there a purer woman or a 
more Christ-like disciple ? And could any choice 
which he might make cause one greater hap- 
piness, or so certainly enhance his own, as for 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 34 1 

him to bestow one more gift in addition to the 
many which had already been sent — the gift of 
himself to the woman who of all others had 
filled most of his' thoughts ? In concluding 
these meditations his purpose was taken ; in- 
stead of replying to Doctor Dean's letter, he 
presented himself at the parsonage to explain 
in person the purpose which he had formed. 
His visit was both a delight and a surprise — 
delight to meet a dear friend, and an agreeable 
surprise at the main purpose of his coming. 

Here he learned that it was the intention of 
Miss Farley to maintain herself and mother by 
a return to her profession as a teacher, and that 
she expected soon to enter upon the duties of a 
very eligible position which had been secured 
for her mainly through the influence of her 
friend Doctor Dean. 

With this information Davidson repaired to 
the brown cottage, where, though so unex- 
pected, he was very cordially received. The 
neat and cozy appearance of everything in and 
out of the house was in marked contrast with 
the wretched surroundings in which he first had 
met the family. Taste and carefulness were 
everywhere apparent, and a quiet grace seemed 

29* 



34 2 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

to pervade the place. The mother was happy, 
and seemed to have a deep and abiding sense 
of the kindness of the noble friends who had 
so liberally cared for them, especially the gen- 
erous benefactor who had for so long a time 
furnished the means to restore her precious 
child to health. The one great want now was, 
to learn who these dear friends were, that they 
might convey to them the deep gratitude which 
their. hearts felt and carried as a burden because 
they had no opportunity for adequate expres- 
sion. The desire of the daughter to know this 
secret was not less than the mother's, coupled, 
perhaps, with a deeper sense of the kindness 
which had been so long continued, and was 
now only withheld because her self-respect 
would not allow its longer manifestation. 

After listening, with much embarrassment, to 
these praises of himself, so unconsciously given, 
as long as he could well endure the strain, he 
solicited the pleasure of Alice's company in a 
stroll to the pleasant grove near the cottage. 
What was said and done during that interview 
must be left unwritten, but perhaps an inference 
can be drawn from what transpired after their 
return to the cottage. When they entered the 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 343 

presence of the mother Alice threw herself upon 
her mother's neck and wept aloud with excess 
of joy, and it was a long time before she could 
make any reply to the anxious questions by 
which her sympathizing parent sought to know 
the cause of such sudden and deep emotions. 
When at last under sufficient control to speak, 
she said, 

" Oh, mother ! mother ! who do you think 
has been my kind friend through all these long 
months of suffering and want?" 

" I'm sure I don't know, my child," was the 
reply, " or I should bless him with all my soul, 
as I know that God has already done, for his 
great kindness to me and mine." 

" Oh, bless him then, dear mother," said the 
daughter as she seized the hand of Davidson 
and drew him to her mother's side, "for here 
he is, and let us both bless him with all our 
hearts." 

The mother looked first at her daughter and 
then at the young man, who had stood silent 
by her side, as though in doubt as to what he 
should do, when the daughter once more ex- 
claimed, 

" Yes, yes, mother, bless him, for he it is who 



344 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

has been my kind and unfailing benefactor; he 
it was who paid all my bills, and gave me back 
to you and usefulness ; and what shall we do 
to repay him for all his goodness to us ?" * 

" What shall we do, my child ? Why, thank 
and bless him all the days of our lives, and pray 
for him as long as we have a tongue to utter a 
petition to the Giver of all good ! — Oh, sir," she 
said, turning to Davidson, " if a mother's daily 
blessing can make any return for your generous 
care for my precious child in her affliction, and 
her daily earnest supplications bring happiness 
to your heart here and hereafter, then you will 
not go wholly unrewarded for your noble deed 
of charity. Oh, that I had some way to show 
how deeply and truly grateful I am !" 

As the scene was becoming intensely trying 
to spirit and nerves, the opportunity was seized 
to release the strain ; and so Davidson said, 

" I have not done enough to merit such 
warm commendations, and certainly not enough 
to bring you under obligations that you can 
never repay. You can repay me, and leave me 
in debt to you beyond all calculation or hope 
of discharge. I have given you and her but a 
small sum out of a store that was not percepti- 




The Beautilul Ladder. 



Page 344. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 345 

bly taxed by the amount withdrawn ; but I am 
now about to ask you for a gift which I am sure 
no money could purchase from your hands. I 
am presumptuous to ask so much in return for 
the poor favors which I have bestowed, but I 
ask — Alice at your hands. I have told her that 
I love her, and should solicit your sanction to 
my proposal. Fearing that she might do from 
gratitude what I only seek from love, I have not 
pressed her for an answer, and do not wish one 
until she has time to reflect and counsel with 
you and her own heart." 

While this conversation was going on Alice 
lay on her mother's bosom with her face con- 
cealed, but the trembling frame and flowing 
tears showed her deep emotion. 

After a considerable pause, during which 
mother and daughter were enfolded in a closer 
embrace, Mrs. Farley said, 

" Mr. Davidson, this matter is so wholly un- 
expected and sudden, and involves so deeply 
not only the future happiness of as dear a child 
as ever blest a parent's heart, but the very exist- 
ence and life of our household, that you must 
not be surprised if there is some hesitation 
in replying to your request. After what has 



346 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

passed it would not only be ungrateful, but cruel, 
to interpose any slight objections or delay to a 
gratification of your wishes, and it would be a 
rude insult to stop and question your worthi- 
ness or motives; and so, if you desire a more in- 
timate relation with a family which has nothing 
to give but an untarnished name and the assur- 
ance of the inestimable value of the one whom 
we must surrender to cement the bond of union, 
you are at liberty to enter into any engage- 
ments with my daughter which may be mutu- 
ally agreeable." 

" Thanks, dear madam — most hearty thanks," 
was the ardent response of the young man, "for 
your kind approval of my suit for your daugh- 
ter's favor ; and I hope that I may be as success- 
ful in the response which Alice may decide to 
make to my proposal." 

The pause which followed this remark Alice 
understood as it was intended, as an appeal to 
her for some expression of her feelings. From 
her increased agitation it was evident that a 
powerful struggle was going on, and so no in- 
terruption was offered to the full flow of her 
emotions. Two or three attempts were made 
by her to leave her resting-place on the mater- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 347 

nal breast, but they were failures, so she finally 
put forth one of her hands and placed it in that 
of her suitor, and then, with her face close hid- 
den to conceal her excess of joy, she allowed 
him to press it to his lips and put his own con- 
struction on the act. The sequel need not be 
detailed. 

Another year has passed, and the elegant 
family mansion inherited by Davidson has a 
new mistress, while near by the widow Farley 
inhabits a neat modern cottage, where she is 
passing the evening of life with a beauty which, 
like a summer sunsetting, grows brighter and 
brighter as it nears the final decline. The little 
brown cottage at Willow Brook has been deeded 
to trustees, with directions to give it rent free to 
such needy widows as from time to time may 
be deemed worthy of such a favor. 

Rudolph has taken his partner-in-law in the 
person of Minnie Dean, and thus the two stu- 
dents have found something worth living for, 
and have indefinitely postponed their intention 
to cultivate the rough companionship of the 
denizens of the Rocky Mountains. 

Earnest and active in all the duties of a true 



34 8 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 

Christian life, blest and happy in their social 
surroundings, and with ample and increasing 
means to continue the blessed work of benevo- 
lence so auspiciously begun on the shores of the 
dismal lake, they gratefully regard their lot as 
having fallen unto them in pleasant places, and 
that they have a goodly heritage. 

As may well be surmised, there is an oft- 
repeated gathering of old-time friends at the 
parsonage at Willow Brook, and an interchange 
of social visits one with another, when the past is 
often a theme of pleasant conversation. In these 
seasons Davidson always insists that, although 
he may not have reached a very high round on 
his upward course, nor have obtained very dis- 
tinct views of the glorious things which may 
there be revealed, of one thing he is certain : 
he met a descending angel who has consented 
to tarry for a while to brighten his pathway and 
give him safer guidance as he strives to reach 
the heavenly terminus of the " Beautiful Lad- 
der." 

THE END. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




